issue95yourelikeaburning

                                   ZYGOTE IN MY COFFEE.COM

***BIO*** Iris Berry has been called a lot of things but one of the best is A punk rock James Elroy in fishnets. One of the true and original progenitors of the L.A. punk scene. Her lifetime spent in City Of Angels has resulted in over two decades worth of astonishing prose, poetry, and music. Her lullaby-and-bedtime-story voice is like a haunting tour of Los Angeles that lingers like one of the city’s famous unsolved murders. A survivor’s wisdom and an enduring message of universal hope are the connecting threads that inform all her writings, whether she is paying tribute to a deceased cat, describing the suicidal tendencies of a gangster ex-boyfriend, or matter-of-factly chronicling a string of heroine overdoses. Telling stories of Hollywood as it is and was, with a nonchalance that’s fragile, intelligent and tough all at once. And she doesn’t hide the sometimes unpleasant scenarios beneath flowery language.

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You’re Like A Burning Building

by Iris Berry

and It doesn’t matter that you made me so crazy
It doesn’t matter that you are certifiably crazy
I think about your arms
and how the life force just pulses through your veins
I could build a whole life around your forearms
and the lines in your face,
how beautiful you are
even as you are aging
you can tell
that you were drop dead gorgeous
at one time
and that women threw themselves at you
even if you were an asshole
which I know you were
because you had the whole world
eating out of the palms of your hands
as you stepped on their feet
and how you could always make me laugh
the kind of laugh
that just can’t be stopped
and that comes back
hours and days later
when I think about it,
and how you always brought me flowers
and gifts
for no reason, just to make me happy
but you’d always say
now remember this for when you hate me
and how being with you
was one of the most exciting rides I’d ever been on
even on the scary parts
when I thought for sure you would
burn the house down
or when I had to visit you in jail
and how seeing you in prison blues
and behind glass
made it all make sense
It’s a good look for you.
and how you could always bring it out of me
and get me or anyone
to do things we never dreamed of
we were all your puppets
weren’t we?
and I still am
even when you call
at three and four and five
in the morning…
after being up for days on end
on yet another speed run
and every time you talk about
how you just want to stop
and this time you will
or what about the time
we sang Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young
in your air conditioned car
in stacked traffic
and purposely way off key,
“I am yours,
you are mine
you are what you are
and you make it hard,”
and you do..
make it so hard
yes, you’re like a burning building
that I have to run from
but I want the burning building
to want me to stay
but you would never admit that
and what good would it do
If I did
in order to stay
I’d have to put the fire out
and we know that’s not possible
yes, you make it hard…
you’re like a burning building
but what a lovely way to burn….

Sept. 2007