Night Soliloquy ~ poetry by Mary Paulson

Good night blue bird, bohemian, bullets over broadway, boudoir banter, Banshee, bicycle rat, Bisquick, big slick, here, pussy pussy, bad bloke, unwoke, dry duck, grey goose, delaudid, die-hard, rhythmic sounding, hulabaloo. Good night ah chu!, the flu, all things one hundred percent too terribly true, dynamic, decrepit, deceased, demanded, fungus, fingernail, finicky up-do, rue the day, the night, the very next flight, fly-by, flagrant, in flagrante, fragile, female, FOMO, feng shui—

Good night champagne and cocaine, caviar, cat nip, nappies, rivulets of blood and rivers, rivalries, reveries, what nots, why nots, why me beseechers, besmirchers, cheerio chaps, rat-a-tat-tat renegade mice, fight the good fight. Good night black hat, hat pin, stick pin, pin prick, red sin, midnight swim, slim fit duchess dream dress, bias, baker, blowhard, hater, hot blooded masturbator, singer, song writer, trespasser, dim witter, dumb waiter, distraught, raver—

Good night toys for rotten tots, tiny limeys, Willy Wonka wanna-bes, orgies, true crime, sublime, subliminal, scary night-time, nightmare mimes. Good night fakers, blue bloods, takers, madmen, bad men, booty shakers, Studio 57 disco beats, doom raiders, randy Chelsea Handler, Lady Day, Lady Di, dying death of, prickly cactus, desert flower, nightly, brightly, blue hour, whiskey sour, glass darkly lit. Good night zealot, sell-out, spinster, sinister sister, refugee, sweet, sticky berries, golden bee—

Good night Willy, you be free! Freedom flags fly made mad, free bird sighing, buying, one night only, Vegas priming, backup dancers, sequin skin and necromancers, vixen, comet, cupid, tits and fancies, fare thee well, neglectful Nancies. Good night crazy adolescent phases, flukes, drink-till-you-puke, Pokeymon cards and Indian-givers, scabies, rabies, freaks, flamenco, floozy rainbow babies, rebel without a leg to stand on, pot to piss in, without somebody to love, to take the fall for, miss you, kiss you, insist upon you, choose life (your life)—

Evolving, revolving, spinning top. I’ll see you when I wake up, take up, rail upon, rally—

Mary Paulson’s writing has appeared in multiple publications, most recently in Sparks of Calliope, The Pomegranate London, Vita Brevis’ ANTHOLOGY IV, Hare’s Paw, VAINE Magazine, Cathexis Northwest Press, Fevers of the Mind, The Gyroscope Review and Ephemeral Elegies She has poems forthcoming in, Beyond Words Literary Magazine, Down in The Dirt and The Opiate. Her debut chapbook, Paint the Window Open was published by Kelsay Publishing in 2021. She lives in Naples, Florida. Follow on Facebook and Instagram.