Little Sister Going Down - Poem by Rex Butters

little sister going down
By
Rex Butters

when she showed up

a month ago

she’s torn jeans runaway

not even 16

half head shaved

half kinky bleached

barefoot in babylon

not new to the street

now

she sits in spiky palm tree shade

on the Moose Hall wall

fishing the southbound stream

in this trickle down dream

torn jeans gone/tight jeans on

thick make-up & gaudy glass

head all curly cute

fist on her extended hip

looking like she’s looking for a ride

someone’s kid on the skids

selling meat by the roadside

she crosses the street

tries her luck with the northbound tide

she dances in dirt

try to catch the eye

of a 4×4 driver, or

a battered old caddy chugging by

no longer barefoot

she plastic sandal clops

into the store to smear on more

make up samples

like a flower that sucks

the bee.

BIO

Rex Butters has published poetry for 25 years in publications as diverse as The Trestle Creek Review, Brain Vomit, The Free Venice Beachhead, Caffeine, (sic) verse & vice, the Underground Forest, Bad Haircut Quarterly, Open Sound, interbang, and the Cost of Freedom. He also performs with the improvisational music/spoken word ensemble, Black Shoe Polish. Much of his music journalism can be found on allaboutjazz.com.

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