010817

Letter from a Red-Shifted Star

You flew so high that you flew into time,

Like a fly caught in slow glass,

You may emerge someday when the sun is cold,

And I am dead or transformed, and no longer in love with you;

Something we will have in common, finally.

And the Velvet Underground, in Dallas,

Football fans all, chagrined at a lopsided game,

Sang about sex, drugs, major surgery, and rock-and-roll.

Their dangerous music,

Which led many children to ruin,

Hardly seems different from Perry Como to kids today.

I don't even like your dog,

Which I will be walking twice a day,

Until the stupid thing dies.

I couldn’t kill it, though I tried.

Damn right I sold the antique DVDs, china,

And all the house plants;

The 3D never needs to be watered.

I will keep the old CDs though,

All those that work; you didn't even like Frank Zappa

But I dig his quaint attempts to shock.

The things they thought outrageous a century ago!

Listen closely, here's my bullet:

I never needed you.

First printed in Abyss and Apex 12, 2004