Because Seven Ate Nine
xTx


The sun stoked the fire in the air and we all sat around breathing it. David Bowie tongue-kissed the silence. I pictured his mouth opened wide, all tonsil and tongue.


She asked, "Is he saying, 'fame'?" and I said, "Yes."


He said, "You look like a completely different person with your fingernails painted."


I wondered about that, waved my hands around my face, asked, "What about now?"


He said, "Yes."


I did it again. "Now?"


"Yes."


She said, "I agree. Completely different person."


I thought about it some more. I held my arms out. Wrists bent. Hands pressed against the air. Ten red ovals.  


I wanted to say, "But I ate a fried egg this morning," "But I wiped enough times until the brown was gone," "But I put on mascara and thought about how today I probably would feel less happy than the day before." I wanted to say, "Look at my dry elbows."

But I didn't.

I sat there in my skin while they looked at me. So new. Now blonde and well-kempt. Now speaking French. Now petting Great Danes.

They just nodded.






xTx lives in Southern California. Her forthcoming chapbook, He Is Talking to the Fat Lady, has sold out on preorder.

To link to this story directly: http://wigleaf.com/201011because.htm

Detail of photo on main page courtesy of Neil Krug.







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