where went the cherry pie girl
with the long legs and curls
he said bounced in the wind?
1, 2, 3 days since springtime,
eight nickels and five dimes
won’t pay the bills.
why do I bother with writing?
they tell me she’s hiding
at the bottom of
one of these
bottles of pills—
1, 2, nothing to do now,
can’t leave my room now.
God, let it end!
if I could be a believer,
would you let me see her?
see the cherry pie girl again?

where went that midwinter rose?
danced on her toes,
kissed the sky and the stars like she never kissed him.
did she twirl a little
too close to the ocean?
it’s lonesome on land, dear,
but you never learned how to swim.
go on now and follow
the yellow brick road.
do as you’re told,
there’s no place like home.
please,
don’t leave me alone.
I’m no good alone.

sun-speckled girl from the north,
why did you run?
sipping red rum, leaving capsules like breadcrumbs.
darling, it’s not a hard map to follow,
but with each that I swallow,
my weariness grows.
the perpetual poetry of the empty-hearted—
I’d forgot how to start it.
what a terrible thing to relearn!
together we painted a plan of escape,
saw beyond the torn screen.
why couldn’t you wait?
our body is still
my body.
my eyes are still
pale green.

where went our sweet-sugared tomorrow?
honeyed with lust,
dusted with love;
a page ripped from the book
that he never borrowed.
if I could carry a simple tune,
I might sing a pretty song,
but I’ve just got
empty mugs
and pharmacy drugs.
the cherry pie girl is gone.