Madcap/Pure Ice

I used to believe in horror and silence
              the vampiress in the wicker chair
with the purple cushion on the talk show
              or bobbing for apples                   with Uncle Dracula
sweating blood in a barrel        a blue hippopotamus mask
               the cage in the room                  the old flute and someday
I promise a clean smell              the promise of urgency.

            I used to get tired of seeing my dry nails
got tired of the new snow        the hashtag cold snap.
            In the dead town they trusted me so much
they let me live in the waterless home
            and all the walls echoed                and I turned
the petrified radio        to sad jaws and diamonds
            added glitter to the deer head still warm
and the cat clock that never stopped ticking
            a gold ghost on my cranberry nails
my booze and headaches         a femme fatale in faux fur
            and the vampiress is my grandmother
my high-waisted panties
            I watch game show after gameshow
            and never have sex.