Tonight's Poet Corner: Sequence

Sequence
by Belinda Roddie

black and white photographs
juxtaposed with color
a neon swathe of color
revealing the guts of women
who danced better than they fought
and sang louder than they screamed

you hang each frame
by the edge of your bed
your pictures like marionettes
without guidance or direction
memories seldom receive either
they've already chosen their paths
and can't be forced backward
by Time's unsteady hands
she can't keep her fingers still
like frightened rabbits they skitter
into the darkness of her sleeves

I hope you find me at your drinking
hole where we can dance and snap
polaroids that render us white noise
temporarily before we assume
our old shapes once more
if you take me to bed
just remember that you don't have
to tell your stories to me again
I've heard them before
they're lodged in my belly
creating heat
creating color
among the black and white

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