Outside Room 7 at the Merryman Motel (Spoken Word)

[ChristopherSea]

Outside Room 7

Whenever my Siamese cat tells me you're cheating
again, this headache becomes an icicle
shattering on stone.

It's crazy to think that cats can talk, or even purr,
when it's clearly the buzz
of implanted transmitters.
Our secrets pad down moonlit paths,
slip underneath roof shadows.

It told me where to find the bullet
pristine, like it had never been fired.
Oswald acted alone. But I knew that
already: some moments are too intimate

to share, though, they do require preparation.
I chew on small squares of tinfoil to create interference.
The electrochemical reaction combines
with the mercury in my fillings,
so that I can become cigarette smoke
drifting invisible beneath the window

of the roadside motel you visit every Thursday.
You might see my reflected smile
as you apply lipstick,
or you might miss the obvious.

Todd, This is amusing, clever and I love cats. I think you mean the Merrimen Motel, if you are referring to the chain. I can’t scientifically reconcile electrochemical, combining with mercury and generating cigarette smoke. However, something like this would work:

The electrochemical current causes
my saliva to react with my fillings,
so that I can become mercury vapor
drifting invisibly beneath the window

This would jive better scientifically and you create the gaseous phase (mercury vaporizes readily) required to drift out the window without drumming up the inexplicable cigarette smoke. Reword to your tastes, if need be.

Cheers!/Chris