"red lipstick"

"red lipstick"
while listening to advertising music and wondering by jake kilroy.

when the coast turned in its winter's nap,
i hopped from one state to another,
pitched on a mountain that came down
like i did several years ago after a few long parties
and a summer that filled my lungs with confetti.
the land waved and winked with the citizens in air,
hearing the great rumble of slow-motion advertising
tickling hearts and seducing brains and languishing
forever, for all time, with sunglasses
that were on sale at the gas station
you only ever see in movies
about kids becoming adults
becoming heroes
becoming glowing light.

she was becoming,
the one who wore red lipstick without it ever out of place.
how many women can say that?

sure, i was a better man once,
which is the emptiest batch of words
you could cook up for any occasion,
but this accordion mouth hasn't played a song right
since my parents got rid of their record player
just months before they stomped their way back in style.

dearest goddesses of burden, remember her,
the one who wrote ad copy and could wear anything,
that woman i thought i was head over heels for
that turned out to be head over heels for me?
even after all those literary classics and western films,
the best i did was show up drunk with bubble gum
and play the youth card like i was trying out regret.
she was older than i was, and that was something,
since i was already wearing my years like a denim jacket,
nearly beaten to death with holes looking like roses.

she rolled like the coastline
and opened her eyes like the future.
i swore to christ with one hand
and threw the champagne with the other,
the last night i stayed over
and helped her forget me.

this is what will go to my imaginary grave
the next time i go to bed wanting
even though i've had my fill
and couldn't stomach another.