Patrick Carrington

Sophie

I always liked Sophie. Nothing tops a girl
who understands a shortage of money
and the compassion of yes,
how much that special loyalty matters
to a man at night. Sometimes

I even cross the tracks in daylight
to repay her humanity. She sure is pretty
enough. That alone outweighs ignorance
of politics and Shakespeare. I get those
at home. If you ask me, low-rent sluts

are underappreciated. So thrifty, such
a distracting sense of fashion. And
they never ask questions. Why fret
over a lack of stimulation after cigarettes
are crushed? They know how to fill time.

Ruined women adore small talk. Of scent,
or weather, how they manage to maintain
their exquisite aroma through storms.
It raises them, larger than the squall
of Samsons that washed their egos away.

I paint Sophie’s toenails when it rains.
She likes purple best, says it lifts spirit
like columns by reminding her he’s doing
a dime for being big, to pay for color
his long hair pistol-whipped onto her face.

I prefer red. It’s lively, pounds like life
should. Either way, to relieve boredom
or a collapse of self, girls like Sophie love
romance, and never mind if you tell them
to shut up and spread their heart again.

Straw Man

I do not remember balance,
the standing.
I am scarecrow-still
as black birds torture my eyes,
sit on my head in defiance
of all sanity and rule
with my arms and their bending,
salvation from wicked wings,
stuffed and straight.

I never flew, did not ever want
to fly, never hoped to ever fly,
never even wanted to hope
to fly, but

I want to bend my arms again,
want to reach my fingers out
and feel them twitch and tremble
as they touch the skies
of your face.

I want to come to you oiled
when you call, inviting me
to share the motions and flight
of your bed and dreams,
and script secrets
that run and jump
and soar into the night.

I want no spokes, no stiff metal,
no corridors on wheels.

I want to protect more than corn.

______

Patrick Carrington’s work has appeared in various print and online literary magazines. Born and raised in the boroughs of New York City, he now teaches language arts and creative writing in southern New Jersey.