The Saturday Afternoon Blues
by Wanda Coleman
(published in her book, Imagoes, 1983, Black Sparrow Press)
Can kill you
can fade your life away
friends are all out shopping
ain't nobody home
suicide hotline is busy
and here i am on my own
with a pill and a bottle for company
and heart full of been done wrong
i'm a candidate for the coroner, a lyric for a song
saturday afternoons are killers
when the air is brisk and warm
ol' sun he steady whispers
soon the life you know will be done
suicide line i can't get you
best friend out of town
alone with a pill and a bottle
i drink my troubles down
the man i love is a killer
the man i love is thief
the man i love is a junky
the man i love is grief
some call saturday the sabbath
it's the bottom of the line some say
whether last or first, my heart's gonna burst
and there ain't no help my way
here with a pill and a bottle
and a life full of been done wrong
i'm a candidate for the coroner, a lyric
for a song
Comments