Lenore Kandel - Blues for Sister Sally

                 I
moon-faced baby with cocaine arms
            nineteen summers
            nineteen lovers

novice of the junkie angel
lay sister of mankind penitent
       sister in marijuana
       sister in hashish
       sister in morphine

against the bathroom grimy sink
pumping her arms full of life
            (holy holy)
she bears the stigma (holy holy) of the raving christ
            (holy holy)
            holy needle
            holy powder
            holy vein

dear miss lovelorn: my sister makes it with a hunk
of glass do you think this is normal miss lovelorn

          I DEMAND AN ANSWER!



                II
     weep
for my sister she walks with open veins
leaving her blood in the sewers of your cities
              from east coast
              to west coast
              to nowhere

 how shall we canonize our sister who is not
   quite dead
     who fornicates with strangers
     who masturbates with needles
who is afraid of the dark and wears her long hair soft
   and black
     against her bloodless face



                III
midnight and the room dream-green and hazy
we are all part of the collage

       brother and sister, she leans against the wall
       and he, slipping the needle in her painless arm

       pale fingers (with love) against the pale arm



                IV
children our afternoon is soft, we lean against
    each other

              our stash is in our elbows
              our fix is in our heads
god is a junkie and he has sold salvation
         for a week's supply