Why I Am Not A Painter

i'd really hate for you to call me
a new voice; that voice is not new.
it goes door-to-door selling plastics.

i'd like to pretend i was talking
to a figurine with metal shoes,
dancing in front of a mirror

i have stolen something, but not
realized if it is wrong

your mother told my mother we are threatening
the other girls. why did you tell your mother anything?

you pick up the unlit cigarette
and raise it to your lips

everyone knows that jim has a dictionary
in the back of his pocket. no one knows
i am jealous

my mother heard from shannon's mother
that you told shannon that you would
beat her up, and that shannon has eaten
a hole in the lining of her stomach

i was teaching shannon how to hold
the neck of the violin

i saw ow anytime
anything makes a noise

the ballerina is smoking a cigarette
she has stolen, and twirling in
front of the mirror
admiring the way she looks
with that in her mouth

shannon's mother is at the bake sale
wearing a fake fur print something
on every place she has

the ballerina is always dancing
whenever i practice the violin

i'd really hate for the ballerina
to talk to shannon's mother.
shannon is better at the violin

your mother talked about shannon's mother
at the bake sale, in a loud voice.
your mother is way cool. it's okay
you told your mother anything

my mother tells me to stop
threatening the boys. how she
knows it beyond me

jim, i want your dictionary.
give it up.

i heard from my mother, on the phone
that shannon is in the hospital.
her violin is there, too.

i have stolen the ballerina.
it has a broken ceramic toe,
which will never point