...Fifth Avenue Angel

Sighs collect around her mouth
like good weather.

"Don't window shop when
you're on my arm,"
she says he said.

Wings of white leather.

"When you walk, walk.
When you eat, eat.
Extrapolate for yourself."

I neither claim
nor hope to meet this one again,
hovering as she does
inches above the street
but in these words
I find her daily,
overlooking:

        eyelids all the colors
        of a mermaid's tail shimmer
        in the late sunlight, molten.

Her hair in the wind re-placed by hands
that remind me of tumbler pigeons.

"Maintain clarity. Remove everything
from your head and place it on a nearby table.
If you need to adorn your hat with cement,
you'll know where to find it," she says.

She dances, sways with air,
brushes a lock behind an ear,
laughing, dancing more.

"Love like a businesswoman:
ruthlessly."

Ballbusting 101 for Girls

JAN has guitar on and waits in foyer.

Mistress of Ceremonies Cat Townsend introduces Dr. Stern.

DR. STERN: Thank you Cat. It's a pleasure to be here. Yes. Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Dr. M.D. Stern, M.D., Ph.D. in psychology. As luck would have it, my offices are not far from here and when Jan told me during our session earlier today that she was performing at Cat's Impetuous Books, one of my favorite hangouts, and confessed to feeling a higher than normal level of performance anxiety, I offered to introduce her and hold her hand through this little trauma.

Unusual you think for a shrink to take the stage on behalf of a patient, er, client? Just so. But Jan is an unusual individual and first presented with delusions of grandeur two weeks before Valentine's Day this year. You see, Ms. McLaughlin believes herself to be Princess-at-Large.

Now, I normally prescribe appropriate medication, increase sessions, and sometimes in extreme cases like this even advise hospitalization, but I found Jan's particular delusion oddly compelling, especially in combination with the underlying complex multiple personality infrastructure. Call me a sadist, but I found the landscape of her particular madness is so compelling, I chose to let the flood run its natural course.

Among Jan's many personalities you will find a poet, film maker, composer, lesbian biker babe, zen nun, musician, novelist, pervert, style maven, actor, director, choreographer, and cheerleader.

Without further ado, I am pleased and proud to introduce long-time client, collaborator and friend, Princess-at-Large Jan McLaughlin.

JAN: Thank you Dr. Stern. Will my insurance cover this?

DR. STERN: [shakes head "Yes" with a knowing, "I beat the insurance companies all the time" smile.]

JAN: I think I got 40 minutes coming, right?

 

Princess-at-Large Issues Edict -
Poetry and Poets Henceforth Forever Banned