‘Besides, Anna Livia, You Can’t Dance to Joy Division’ by Daniel Rattelle

I see you standing there,
all Weimar kitsch:

a solipsistic grin;
a flannel shirt.

You’re the manic pixie
dream, I’d say.

But never fret, I’m just
a workin’ stiff

who learned to dance by watching
Ian Curtis

shake. I’m just the fool
at the bar who’s yammering

that finniganswakespeak into
the mic, pretending

not to know your name.

From issue #6: spring/summer 2018

About the Author
Daniel Rattelle is a poet and arts journalist from Massachusetts. His pamphlet The Sleeping House is published by Eyewear.