Heavenly Paris – Reagan Sova

July 26, 2021

at the word of mouth dinner
not even the American secret police knew about
candlelight flickering
upon the skulls of the catacombs
the Geezer said possession is nine points of the law Ned
so keep your mitts off my beaver hat
unless you think it is worth getting stabbed over

the bushranger said aw you ain’t stabbing nobody
you’re wearing your boots on your hands

we all laughed
chewing roast pigeon

after the gooseberry cobbler
the monk unveiled Napoleon’s tallywhacker
pickled in a jar of alcohol
for three years he said
i have single handedly kept the monastery afloat
showing this purloined relic to sensation seekers
it looked like a little seahorse

in double time
the Countess advanced across open country
ready to charge
we branded a vulgar word on her bare ass
she had been begging us to do it
i sucked her left breast for a lark
and kissed her on the mouth in passion
she was straddling me
when i said why do you wear a mask

she said well i have recently made a few
unauthorized bank withdrawals at pistol point

we laughed

i took up the guitar i had stolen from the dead
and performed with a backing band of
trickster wandering minstrel musicians
everyone dancing like beekeepers
with a hole in the suit

the Gypsy accordionist burned the hair
out of his nose with a lit match
provoking a cheer from all of us
underground among the dead
amid a long stretch of hard time
wounded but fighting gamely on