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This writing was accepted for publication in the 108 page perfect-bound ISSN# / ISBN# issue/book “Gone Fishing” Down in the Dirt, v173 (the July 2020 Issue) Order the paperback book:

Order this writing that appears in the one-of-a-kind anthology Outside the Box the Down in the Dirt May-Aug. 2020 issues collection book		get the 422 page May-Aug. 2020 Down in the Dirt 6" x 9" ISBN# paperback book:

Her Black Feather Boa and Baby Doll Eyes

T.J. Butler



It was the time of the black feather boa and all those leopard printed things,
sometimes garish high platform shoes that did not match her dress,
and she walked like she was trying not to fall down in them.

She had those big, big Japanimation eyes, huge like baby dolls and Disney fish
and she felt like an actress in a bad movie,
standing on the street corner in a far away city where she had never been.
The back alleys and the beer/sweat/cigarette smells stuck to her clothes-
even when she got home and took them off she could not forget.

She danced out too close to the edge of the pier one day in the wintertime
when there were no tourists fishing or holding hands looking at the ocean.
She spun around to the music inside her head and briefly felt no more pain.

One bare foot came down from a twirl on her toes but she lost her balance.
She did not feel the wood beneath her, only the push of the wind and falling.

Her eyes snapped open from behind shades that had not fallen off

to see the ocean rushing up to meet her. Her breath caught in her chest
and she realized in the seconds before she hit that she would never again
dance too close to the edge.

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