I’ve been told my range is the tragic
And I only write about myself.
Well, here are some current events:
Two doors down from where I live
A 14 year kid old shot an adult, aged 35.
Six times and killed him.
With the help of a 19 year old.
I stack the numbers like Legos or lipsticks or cuts on my legs.
2 – 14 – 35 – 6 – 19
I could play the lotto with this.
Sin and redemption narrative
Is a bitch.
When I put on my face in the morning,
There is always a choice
Between waterproof and regular mascara
The waterproof I have had for months,
It is Maybelline,
Running dry.
The regular is MAC,
Fresh from a Christmas gift box.
It goes on black and long, perfect lines.
It runs when I cry.
These days, I pick the waterproof every time.
Manicured fingers meeting
Prison tattoos
Delicate fingers meeting
Prison tattoos
As they strolled down the hallway of the
Detox center
Talking up going to
Venice beach
Buying rings covered with
Skulls and bones
Drinking beer and doing
Shots of jack
And I watched them from the
Door of my room
And they were
Released on Thursday
And never
Spoke again.
Andrea Lambert is the author of Jet Set Desolate, Lorazepam & the Valley of Skin and the chapbook G(u)ilt. Her work has appeared in 3:AM Magazine, The Fanzine, Entropy, HTMLGiant, Queer Mental Health, and ENCLAVE. Her work has been anthologized in Haunting Muses, Writing the Walls Down: A Convergence of LGBTQ Voices,The L.A. Telephone Book Vol. 1, 2011-2012, Off the Rocks Volume #16: An Anthology of GLBT Writing, You’ve Probably Read This Before, and Chronometry. Visual artist. CalArts MFA. Find her online at andreaklambert.com.