Lillian Runs Poem by David McLansky

Lillian runs
Into the breathlessness of night,
Then alits;
A Moravian Jewess
Madly earnest in Bohemia,
The thin chest
Coughing up creativity
As the earrings bangle
And the bangles
Beat about her throat;
All white her young neck
And arched;
Her Gypsy clothes
Frail against her frame,
Her thin-lidded eyes widened with fright,
Her matte of orange hair
Burning red with flame;
Lillian seeking fame,
To be,
To be,
And
To be more famous
Than herself;
She imparts
Her wild streaming thoughts
Then departs;
Fearing defeat,
Running
Out again into the City night streets,
A child in retreat
Running on
Jeweled
Bedroom-slippered
Feet.