Party Nation

PARTY NATION

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Poetry by Catriona Wright

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Black tar cools after a day
goading the sun. On a rooftop
we madcap stomp
amid pizza boxes and napkins
gone invisible with grease.

Vodka flares poured on the pyre.
No bodies, just bank statements,
graduate degrees, manuscripts,
smart phone contracts. We rap
90s dance hits between swigs
of spiked energy drinks.

Leaping through the beaded curtain
spat out by the sprinkler, we whoop
and gargle for the weeds
dreaming in sidewalk cracks below.
It hasn’t rained for years.

The city is a mummified bull
with mint kidneys. We are aspiring
matadors clasping our toy daggers
and red blankies. On piggyback
we spar with the three visible stars,
terrified night will turn away.