Day Whatever: The Pelicans

Done trying to catch up but back on track. Apologies; this ones from the bell jar.

The Pelicans
When the pelicans brought her back from the rain
She still couldn’t find her knees
Lipstick leaked from her mouth like blood
from his temples
and the grave of mascara under her eyes
spelled hunger

At her best she was wife
Grunge rock diva
Demented mother
Their chaos complimented each other

And now there are pelicans
Piecing together this Iris like
Cinderella’s helpers

She is the gray mannequin of cloud
over the Puget Sound
The dull whisper of depression
When your status becomes widow

The pelicans only gift to offer up
was warmth
A sliver of comfort
A strand of milder climate
A fraction of balance
But even they fight to keep themselves
above water sometimes
Even they are beautiful and broken,
wishing they could pull pistol from his
nicotine stained hands
Instead of pools of thread to piece together this
once porcelain ragdoll
This once odd but unbroken
Strange but secure
Drug-filled bones
once tempered with love

They cannot change the methadone mush of her brain
The mashing misfiring that makes her a rock star
They cannot change the recreational habits of a girl
The dripping beats of mascara
Or her divided past

But the pelicans move her flesh back to life
A beautiful reflection to look at in the mirror
As she pulls her wedding gown out of the closet
Rosey cheeks spinning like tiaraed princess
One last time she gives her breath a chance

And collapses into a lake so deep
not even the Pelicans can find her.