I'm doing a reading of this poem as part of the Overload Poetry Festival on Saturday the 5th of August (some time between 12 and 2pm). So if you're in Melbourne, feel free to head down to the Atrium, Federation Square for this event. It won't cost you anything.
More info here. Or feel free to PM me for details.
A Taste of Cindy
Crack of dawn
Cindy's movin' on
Talkin' Cindy to everyone
'Til she's had her fun
– The Jesus & Mary Chain, ‘Taste of Cindy’
Cindy I loved you as much as I love gambling my life away
I bet your favourite flowers are still gardenias
And lilies of the valley and $50 notes and $20 notes
Cindy I built temples on your tongue
My ribs knew your ribs
You fucked me on a dead mattress
Your legs pale in summer
And there was the raw stupid beauty of that first night
Serenading you with a sixpack as we cruised St Kilda beach
We got scribbled
We painted the rocks with water
Cindy I remember you
Cindy lifting off
Pumped on valium toes exposed
Single doona on a double bed
Getting stoned watching TV
And drinking Absolut Citron that I’d lifted from the bottleshop
While you stalled the shop guy with your ‘speed humps’
As I called them
Only to cop a mouthful of your door for my trouble
Cindy I got in line for you
We were lovers with the scents of others
There must’ve been so many names I missed
Of suckers young and old swimming silent from your mouth
Cindy you loved porn as much as the next guy
We’d laugh at the lamest lines and recite them Shakespearean
While going at it in the laundromat
And I used to dream you short-haired with silk tie
Dressing gown completely open
Uncrossing and crossing everything
Cindy you were let go from every job within minutes
I can still see the slow ghost of you
Scanning items in the express checkout
Then screaming down the defenceless old dear
Who was sure she’d been overcharged for cotton buds
That was one of those times you led me back again rattling your tin
Back to your flat with fridge in the bedroom and no running water
Except hard rain through the broken windows
Cindy you were all money
If you were the Empress of China you’d still shop at Target
You once won five grand on a scratchie
Then lived on strawberries for a month
You drew red texta hearts on naked mannequins
Who you’d rescued from shopsoiled obscurity
And this was your greatest act of charity
Cindy I’m sorry we couldn’t see it through
For growing older while time froze you in its eye
But I’m staying in this lane even if it’s slower
I saw you disappear altogether
I saw you death-defy and testify
You were devoted to dying Cindy-style
Whether spreading the love in underpaid pics
Or riding a Hills Hoist through the thick of a thunderstorm
Cindy you were always naked and laughing
(c) Stu Hatton 2006
http://wordyness.blogspot.com/2006/06/taste-of-cindy-2006.html
More info here. Or feel free to PM me for details.
A Taste of Cindy
Crack of dawn
Cindy's movin' on
Talkin' Cindy to everyone
'Til she's had her fun
– The Jesus & Mary Chain, ‘Taste of Cindy’
Cindy I loved you as much as I love gambling my life away
I bet your favourite flowers are still gardenias
And lilies of the valley and $50 notes and $20 notes
Cindy I built temples on your tongue
My ribs knew your ribs
You fucked me on a dead mattress
Your legs pale in summer
And there was the raw stupid beauty of that first night
Serenading you with a sixpack as we cruised St Kilda beach
We got scribbled
We painted the rocks with water
Cindy I remember you
Cindy lifting off
Pumped on valium toes exposed
Single doona on a double bed
Getting stoned watching TV
And drinking Absolut Citron that I’d lifted from the bottleshop
While you stalled the shop guy with your ‘speed humps’
As I called them
Only to cop a mouthful of your door for my trouble
Cindy I got in line for you
We were lovers with the scents of others
There must’ve been so many names I missed
Of suckers young and old swimming silent from your mouth
Cindy you loved porn as much as the next guy
We’d laugh at the lamest lines and recite them Shakespearean
While going at it in the laundromat
And I used to dream you short-haired with silk tie
Dressing gown completely open
Uncrossing and crossing everything
Cindy you were let go from every job within minutes
I can still see the slow ghost of you
Scanning items in the express checkout
Then screaming down the defenceless old dear
Who was sure she’d been overcharged for cotton buds
That was one of those times you led me back again rattling your tin
Back to your flat with fridge in the bedroom and no running water
Except hard rain through the broken windows
Cindy you were all money
If you were the Empress of China you’d still shop at Target
You once won five grand on a scratchie
Then lived on strawberries for a month
You drew red texta hearts on naked mannequins
Who you’d rescued from shopsoiled obscurity
And this was your greatest act of charity
Cindy I’m sorry we couldn’t see it through
For growing older while time froze you in its eye
But I’m staying in this lane even if it’s slower
I saw you disappear altogether
I saw you death-defy and testify
You were devoted to dying Cindy-style
Whether spreading the love in underpaid pics
Or riding a Hills Hoist through the thick of a thunderstorm
Cindy you were always naked and laughing
(c) Stu Hatton 2006
http://wordyness.blogspot.com/2006/06/taste-of-cindy-2006.html
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