Evacuate My Brain
Evacuate My Brain
Along that wall
I could be quiet
in the dark—
club kids, drag queens
brush by in a stiff hit
of hairspray, cigarettes,
something candysweet
honey bring it close to my lips
I’d stand there smoking,
watch the crowd on the floor
move as a whole, look for faces
I know, faces that surprise me,
faces I might want—
honey bring it close to my lips yeah
the irresistible pull of flashing
colors, fog blur/bucket bass—
hot jungle call on me—spin spin sugar
electric crawl on me—spin spin sugar
spun us all down to sweat/skin
gathering everywhere, grinding
whoever was closest
twist on me—spin spin sugar
barely room to move—go ahead
let the roof lift off
this basement bar on Liberty
let those streetlamps shine right in—
Lisa Alexander’s full-length book throttlebody is forthcoming from Get Fresh Books in 2023. Her poems have appeared in various journals including Tupelo Quarterly, 2 Bridges Review, Pittsburgh Poetry Review, and The Burnside Review, among others. She holds an MFA in poetry from Drew University and is a longtime member of the Madwomen in the Attic writing workshops. A little bit about the poem: Pegasus was open to the 18 and older crowd on Tuesday and Thursday nights, and as soon as I was old enough, I went, and I went for years after. It was a place so different from any other place I knew: the crowd thick and liberating. There wasn’t a thing I had to do other than be there, and that was a welcome respite in the hard business of being human among other humans. It was the first place I really could just be. Something to note: this poem references a line from a Sneaker Pimps and a Tori Amos song.
