Girls’ Night Out

by Antonia Alexandra Klimenko

I tried to avoid the draft                                                                           

instead I stayed to serve

breakfast

lunch

radio dinners in their aluminum coffins

(all short orders)

sex--the main

love--the side

blues on tap

“And how would you like

your brown-eyed baby girl?” I dished,

wiping the spit-shine from my tits

“Sunny-side up  

or

over easy?”

“Easy,” you groaned--

 consciousness slipping from its zip-lock bag--

 Nirvana, now only

 the name of a rock band

“Easy, huh”

me, brushing flies from your lip--

the stench of the heart like rare steak gone bad--

your boyhood buddy cooling in the freezer

I tried to avoid leaving

but you left me left and right 

left  right  left

Your teeth and their chattering infantry are still marching 

When you make it as far as the living room

send me a telegram, won’t you?

Till then,

please consult your manual for further instructions

The baby’s in the oven

the napalm’s in the fridge

* * * * *

"Girls' Night Out" was first published in Big Bridge.

Widely published, Antonia Alexandra Klimenko's work has appeared in XXI Century World Literature (in which she represents France) CounterPunch, The Original Van Gogh’s Ear Anthology,  The Rumpus, Levure Litteraire, Big Bridge, The Opiate, Strangers in Paris, Occupy Poets’ Anthology (in which she is distinguished as an American Poet), and Maintenant : Journal of Contemporary Dada Writing and Art archived at the Smithsonian Institution in Washinton, D.C. and New York’s Museum of Modern Art. She is the Writer/Poet in Residence for SpokenWord Paris.