An Ice Age

Somewhere in the ladies’ room of my mind

We lay it out on the counter

Right next to the payphone

Your lipstick is perfect, sha la la

So we get straight to it, sha la la

You finally tell me what I’ve known all along

That I’m not natural or was that you?

But I’m not disturbed by at random, I’m disturbed by tides

They come in no matter who, no matter who

A tide so high you don’t notice that you’re drinking sea water

Until you see your mother in the brine

Oily slick communion waves

Screaming something she can’t say

From her, I learned to be cruel

I learned the look that goes right past the ones who love you

As if there’s no-one standing there

Now I feel as lonely as you must have been then

You said it’s nothing to be a pretty girl!

This world eats pretty girls like peanuts

You must be singularly one thing

An unbreakable storm of words and feelings

Sha la la, actually, that was me

You turn to leave and leave and leave

This was your idea

I still don’t know what you wanted from me

I still don’t know my place here

You leave and leave and leave

Back into the fractal, mirrored world of us

I hide in the bathroom stall

Till I’m tired enough to just give up

You don’t know how it feels

Until you see your mother in the frosty green

A plug-in, blow-mold virgin married to an extension cord

A feeble ransom note placed out for our lord

“Please don’t forget me!”

Do you realize

You’ve been screaming at an ice age in the ladies’ room?