' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' Utter Nutter(For Barry) Poem by Dónall Dempsey

She wrapped
her smile

around a slim
cigarette

shifting it with each
word she spoke

as if the cigarette
conducted her speech

a glowing white baton
against the lush orchestration

of her
luscious lips


coils
of smoke

dancing what she said
above her head

the entire conversation
stuck up on the ceiling

her mouth spoke
like a jazz musician

in a dingy late nite club
all riffs & stops & starts

like a saxaphone
with a stutter

or a bad case of
Torrettes.

She cradled the phone
against her left shoulder

as if she were burping
a baby

took the fag out
for the second it took

to purse
into a kiss.

'Be with you in a second
sweetie! '

'I'm just talking to this
utter nutter! '
with