Purple Vertigo
I’ve noticed two or three satellites
rotating slowly in orbit, reflecting
light only at intervals, as though
junked. I’ve noticed men lurking
under lamps at subway entrances
hawking various pamphlets, warning
of atrocities, hats out, pleading for
a few dollars, imploring the lion.
I’ve seen women in the gardens with
animals, war embroided on their
cardigans, dancing with Hopelessness,
sleeping nights in abandoned lingerie
factories. However, I’ve got this slow
glow coming over me, a delayed
suffocation, like that praying mantis
in a jar I found in the drawer of a
writing desk I bought on eBay…a
happy drowning feeling that I have
no hesitation surrendering to…
a purple vertigo, I guess.
In the city tonight, the shadows
broken, all leaking light.
—
© Brentley 2011
