Red Rum
Lipstick is one of the very finest elixirs
It has a soft consistency
And can write on glass
Red rum is sweet
And candied
With cherries from the
Bottom of the bottle
We sip it so gracefully
I am in love again
His name is something
But who can remember
Memory is a lake
And all of that
I can’t remember
Where I left my last exercise
I was only ever sitting here
Watching the neon burn out
I have taken my red lipstick
And written Help across my chest
He looks at it so kindly
I know I am real again
I can feel the sweet bitters
Of the drink make me into a woman
I am not crying
I am writing sonnets in my mind
About all of the vacations
We will take after this one
I throw the glass against the wall
The only thing that matters in love is passion
Source: Poetry (March 2023)