[audioplayer file=”https://admin.rattle.com/audio/BridgfordGas.mp3″]
for Anne Sexton
That’s who I was, but I wanted to be
The big fur coat that belonged to her mother.
I wanted to be the music she was listening to
On the radio in the car. No one wants to be invisible,
The gas so subtle people forget you’re there.
What is it like to be sky, a shimmering cobalt
With room for airplanes and the sun?
Sometimes, in old houses, when there is
A problem with the gas, I end up being
The long wet hand smothering children
In their beds. I don’t want to do it.
But someone needs to be the caution
For parents losing control, rubbing their faces
In their own dread. Let me be the drama queen.
Let me put on dark red lipstick and kiss you
One last time and leave a mark before it’s over.