My Cardboard Balcony

Masquerade by Belinda Roddie licked up lettuce leaves diluted medicine drink it it'll make you stronger pour nuptials into a glass and swirl it until it is dry as a martini at a sad costume party when you lift the mask it will not be George or Charlie or Fred with the big mustache it'll be me frozen in your glass like a hermit crab on ice

The skyline sat behind our heads and the clouds clustered around the tailcoats of the sun as we sat on the beach. It was very Bergman-esque, sitting here and playing chess in the sand. My opponent had even worn the cloak as an homage. We held our breath. Waves licked the shores. I moved my knight. "Checkmate." "Oh, you bitch," Ely snapped in his lisp-aided lilt.