Reprieve Tonight the night’s reprieve is slowly growing teeth. Under full moon’s grace, I don’t care how many teeth she shows. Instead, I wonder are her toenails painted and if so what color? Why, only yesterday I wore a periwinkle blouse and seven noticed and two named it. –Periwinkle– But I don’t think the night’s toenails are painted periwinkle or music box ballerina pink or even madhouse red. If she has toenails they are certainly barren field-mouse gray ragged from catch under shudder of moon– not full but lopped off moon lopped off at cerebral cortex like Jack Nicholson in that movie where mischief doesn’t pay and when the night flew over she swooped hard down and raw. Imagine knowing you are dead before you are all under lobotomized moon? But that was last night. Tonight the unhungry night is only sharpening her unpainted toenails on her many teeth and isn’t that better? Ellen Bihler prev next |