Courtney LeBlanc
She lights a cigarette, drags hard
and exhales smoke, the room filling
with gray and her gravelly voice,
What the fuck do I know?
her words, an exhale of smoke,
her Cockney accent thick,
What do I expect her to know?
She been dead a decade but her voice lingers.
Her Cockney accent faded when she sang,
sultry words dripped from her lips.
Her voice still lingers a decade later
but only in recordings, only in the past tense.
Words fall sultry from her red lips,
the room filling with the smoke of her gravelly voice.
This is past tense, only a recording
but she looks right into the camera, drags hard on a cigarette.
Courtney LeBlanc is the author of the full length collections Exquisite Bloody, Beating Heart (Riot in Your Throat) and Beautiful & Full of Monsters (Vegetarian Alcoholic Press). She is also the founder and editor-in-chief of Riot in Your Throat, an independent poetry press. She loves nail polish, tattoos, and a soy latte each morning. Read her publications on her blog: www.wordperv.com. Follow her on twitter: @wordperv, and IG: @wordperv79.