Dirty Sixth
Melanie Alberts
September 22, 2021
Austin’s Dirty Sixth
street drowns in deep blues—
blocks away, on the lake
fireflies light up
blink—wait—blink
Bullfrogs gossip
deeply bellowing—they carry
a tune only for her
in a bed of mud, spent
latex and cigarette butts
Her legs delicious
with rain—glistening
a sudden downfall
of delight
accepting everything
She tells herself
silent love stories
falls asleep to a single
light burning
blink—wait—blink
NOPE
shines in neon over
a Dirty Sixth door—still, he pulls—
every door all his life opens
like a fist letting go
Writer and psychic artist Melanie Alberts works at the University of Texas at Austin. Her non-fiction and poetry have appeared in the Ransom Center Magazine, Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review, Wisteria: A Journal of Haiku, Senryu, and Tanka, and other journals.
