Manhattan (the Beatles are dead)

by Jesse S. Mitchell

illustrated by rhoda penmarq

Never mind that blast, it was atomic, nuclear. Anything near has been evaporated, vapors and dilapidated houses, open blouses, unfulfilled wishes and big piles of dishes, a lot of noises out there but ultimately, my dear, it was the long-legged lesbian that turned the heads. This is no place for us, the thin-skinned and under-fed, tragic, I guess, but mostly kind of magical, silent or misconstrued, fill in the blanks or the evangelical. Then someone hit the lights and screamed, this is about Impotence, And someone yelled, no, this is about power… But this is about neither, my little flower, This is about the sounds, clairvoyant and silent, between the breaths, Little echoes coming back and forth. This is Taoism after all, And crumbling graffiti On crumble down walls. Chinese Century But the Aztec millennium And the eon of all mankind…mankind So, Shine little diamond, shine. It’s a desert life in a desert world, we like the heat and the sound the winds make and the sands that chime. The babies have all the knives now and it is only a basic matter of time…twit twit, jug jug, America I have given you all I have and now…Apikoros, you have earned your freedom. Go go. Let all this omnipotence hit the fan. Little old lady reading Baudelaire sitting next to a rail thin little old man with a Buddha-headed racing form…you could never guess where they come from but they will never ever make it home. Diamonds, diamonds shining like stars in the sky. This is about the sounds, clairvoyant and silent, between the breaths, Little echoes coming back and forth. This is Taoism after all, And crumbling graffiti On crumble down walls. Chinese Century But the Aztec millennium And the eon of all mankind…mankind So, Shine little diamond, shine. One little goat, one little goat, that father bought, that father bought for two zuzim.  Apikoros, You have earned your freedom. Go go.