Gilbert Allen
Stanzas in America
With DIRECTV, you can watch, pause, and continue in any room!
The hooker’s bleeding, but she’s still alive—
eyes widening to a saw’s electric shriek,
bikini duct-taped to an operating
table. Pause. Let’s stroll into the kitchen
for what the linguist Hayakawa called
“a first-rate piece of dead cow”—filet mignon,
rare, on a fresh baguette—and chew our way
into the bedroom, licking our fingers clean.
Click to continue. Gloved hands lift the gag
from her smeared lips, then slow down metal teeth
so we can hear her scream. Till he reminds her
Soundproof room. This time, we stop the teeth,
yawning into the power bath, to floss
before we try that new peroxide rinse
and resurrect the scene above our tub.
The psychopath’s still waiting, just for us.
