LUCY
***
Luce, can you hear me?—
’cause I’m trying to reach you
and they’re saying
you’re long gone away.
They say, Lucy’s underground—
but they’re wrong,
aren’t they?
You’d not be caught dead
in some half-dug grave, brought low
by hunger to brimstone and flame.
No, no—that was never your way—
so I’m sure it’s only that you left
for the sky, to swim
like you used to
through the heavens’ blue eye, through
diamonds and vapour
with your wanderlust mind.
Please, Luce, say you’re up there,
that you didn’t fall—plummet to Earth
in a cruel wake-up call. Oh Lucy,
please hear me,
’cause I’m trying to reach you
and they’re saying
you’re long gone away!
***
This poem alludes to two songs: “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” by the Beatles, and “When I’m Small” by Phantogram. Both songs mention a Lucy, though in very different circumstances, and that disparity was how this poem was born. I basically asked myself, Is Lucy in the sky, or underground? And this was born. It’s part experiment, part hot mess, but I hope it’s able to resonate with you in some way.
***