Some demons

Ode to Drakkar Noir

Day 9 of 30 Days of Poetry, Autumn 2024

Some demons are friends
in sexy clothing:
they smell good and look 
more like Sam Elliot than
Mephistopheles. Who hasn’t
invested good time with 
the better demons 
of our nature? 
Rather them than 
those dreary angels:
swinging kettlebells, 
chomping kale,
reciting affirmations 
into a careless wind.
Give me a swoony old 
Clooney to tuck me
under a fleece 
and whisper
baby, it’s ok to 
skip yoga again
to eat another
Nutter Buddy
and disappear.
What possible demon
wears Drakkar Noir,
vibrates the inner ear
with sweet nothings,
knows how much 
I love to laugh,
to feel 
all the feels?
Demons hide inside 
the edge of life,
in a heart’s palpitations,
in unspoken wishes, like
bacon bubbling, like 
sugar caramelizing, like
silvery lies dusted on
our darkest fears.

Today’s poem prompt “demons” comes from my bff and fellow Cyclone T. Mallie. Mallie lives in California and she’s a terrific person and photographer. I am also quite sure she enjoys swinging kettlebells and chomping kale.

Here’s a photo of Mallie and I and her fish purse from 1991ish, proof that she is one of my oldest friends. That pic was taken by Quad-City Times photog Jeff Cook, an excellent human. He has a Twitter account (@jeffcook58) but I don’t have Twitter anymore so I can’t link to him.

Thanks for reading!