Squiggle Hearts

SHE sat on a cold marble floor

and his hands danced along a musical box

with musical muscle

like a sea urchin caught on a seagull and a wave was coming

so it was urgent

but in a hall

his fingers cried all day and his heart hurt with a song

he couldn't play for just anyone

she lined up for hours to see him

she cut herself into an empty line

for her favourite new song

she hadn't heard it yet

she hadn't even seen him yet

but saved all her pop can money

and cut her hair real short

and cut her wrist just to get out of class

because stapled to a tree

it said 'Tenderhearts @ Dawn - Moon Gown Theatre'

RSVP warm socks and buttons

 a hot cocoa reception

no ticket? no entry!

 cried the ticketmaster

and her mouth wouldn't open

just barely squiggled

then zipped

then pouty

then wide enough to fit a train

her tonsils attacked the bridge or her tongue

for a syllable that wouldn't come

a girl with a ticket in a locker

underneath a spoiled lunch

dying to watch a boy with anxious fingers

and no audience

on a cold marble floor 

with no bottom

play his heart out

to no one

his fingers squiggled along 4th notes

but his heart jumped for 8th notes

as if the Queen of Sunken Eye Bay had really come all that way

for a rat in a raincoat

pouring out encore after encore!

were those his lips?

his razor sharp teeth?

sharing a mango

with his sweetest fan.