Tuesday, December 17, 2024

The Bones of a Cheerleader

Not answering phone calls from Texas.

Too many lost relatives there buried

below the Alamo. Bedded down

with the bones of Davey Crockett.

Detectives say the skeleton woman

kissed & caressed & blew new breath

into him to go there and die

& she had the bones

of a cheerleader


Ain't eating ice cream no mo

no mo no mo .,. Not answering

phone calls from Kellogg or Coke.

Not from the president.

Not from Jesus or Buddha,

with their bones hid safe,

all phones being burners,

or even the bones of chairman Mao

Oh no ho no oh no

He had the soul of a cheerleader.


A suitcase in the ditch.

Jammies with pink polka dots

burst out from the sides.

A chess game missing three pieces.

One empty Hello Kitty wallet

left to fade in the desert sun.

One unhappy story unknowable.

There were no bones of a cheerleader,


The very next day I don't know

if I am ever going to be okay.

She had the bones of a cheerleader,

an angel with no light for a day

of smokes torn to shreds for tobacco

in my zombie space alien pirate party tray. 


Nothing more resourceful than a smoker.

Nothing to say to the devil running the day.

I have the bones of a cheerleader.

That's what the doctors say.


- Douglas McDaniel

Tolleson, Arizona


Mythville Book Store












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