981

green girl in heels
worked at a hair salon
had talons
no talent
that was a moonlit
dream

green girl
free fire
she kept a locket
and a newspaper clipping
of a high school
tournament she won
which one
the details
blurred by time

green girl
smoking unfiltered
cigarettes
rolled her own
when she took a break
she said
her life wasn’t over
it never was over

green girl
wore a crown
of plastic bags
stuffed with old fruit
and pieces of her childhood
home in a gray trailer park

green girl
smashed all the mirrors
before she found her brush
to untangle her thinning
hair

what was it that
kept time alive
in the days
when conscious thought
was burned out
by the southern heat