Geraldine, Tara Piscatelli
I’m thinking about those girls again—
the ones who painted watch faces to glow in the dark
tapering radium-tipped paintbrushes with their lips.
Some of them, the creative ones,
thought a touch of workplace theft to be a small enough risk
and went out to the dimly-lit clubs sparking,
flashing smiles that glowed like atom bombs to the worthy boys.
They couldn’t feel the radiation, sucked in like gin through their painted teeth.
Should we?
//
I’m thinking about it again, about that
soft-wired instinct to settle in for the long stability
once the youth’s gone stagnant, dried up.
It’s been, so it’ll be;
(even the crusty old punks in their tattoo shops had to bend to it)
but ‘till then must it feel so childlike to keep on sparking;
to dance frantic in the downtown bars
no sight of sunlight, no drink too strong?
Is it naive (and it might be) to drown our tongues in radioactive mania;
to take these senseless hours, put them on their side—
spread them like a deck of cards
and see if they’ll stretch out, on and on and on into forever
till our geiger-counter hearts burn out?
About the Author
Gwydion Miller · Le Moyne College
Gwydion Miller is a writer, poet, and avowed Hyena enthusiast from upstate New York. They promise that they’ll get a novel out sometime, but it’s not looking likely just yet. This piece first appeared in Salamander.
About the Artist
Tara Piscatelli · Temple University
A former biochemistry student, Tara Piscatelli attended Temple University when her work was published. This piece was first featured in plain china in 2018.
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