Advice for the Newly Single - Elaina Ellis

Advice for the Newly Single

BY ELAINA ELLIS

Be a fierce dragon lonely queen,
Emma. Be a drunk barren

crowbar. Be a cocktail waitress heart-sewn
tease. Be a desert plant, Susie,

succulent. Need no water at hand.
Be an empty-fridge sale salad

scrimper. Be a sharp-tongued solo
chef. Anna: watch TV on a lonely moon

through the static of milky way
reception. Concentrate

on falling asleep. Slut,
Mona. Slut your book open.

Keep your legs open.
Do not write any name but

your name on those acre-wide
pages. Be hollow,

Sally. Keep canary-singing
in a thirsty well. Be a singing

flighty bird with open beak.
Don’t try a cushion,

Mary.  Don’t swallow soft.
Chew only sticks: carrots, twigs.

Sit on your bones.
Sit on their bones.

Don’t try for dreams.
Don’t try for dollars,
Leah, this is a coin job
for you. Turn out the light.
Tear out your eyes. 

Published in Muzzle Magazine, Winter 2011
http://www.muzzlemagazine.com/elaina-ellis.html