ELANA BELL

HARLEM ROOMMATE

Wild haired and tattooed,

everything desirable—

a proud waitress,

big breasted and loud.

Her red beans and rice went down like war.

Me that summer: skinny,

untouched. After dinner we dance

the apartment in slips. I wear hers,

black polyester, a clumsy space

where breasts had filled.

Later, crooked on our stoop, I watch

her tie rubber around her

upper arm, tighten with clenched

teeth, insert the tiny needle, easy

calm settles under eyelids.

Eyes on the street, I shove my useless

arm onto her lap: Show me how.

The words float, slow yellow

smoke above our heads. She turns,

lifts heavy hands toward my disappearing

face. They fall hard to her thighs-- clenching,

unclenching, worthless soldiers. I reach to stop

their broken dance. She grabs my hand,

places it on her forearm, traces the mural

of scars, lips steady on the skin.

Elana Bell is an actress, singer, poet and teacher living in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. She is currently a member of the louderARTS Project poetry collective, and performs her work at Bar 13 in New York City. Elana has facilitated poetry workshops for students in Whitefield, Maine, as well as for women in the Valhalla Women's Correctional Facility in upstate New York. She recently conceived, created and performed in PAINTED WINGS, a non-traditional cabaret of original songs, poetry, and storytelling at the WOW Café Theater in New York City. This past summer, Elana performed at the National Black Theater Festival in MINUS ONE, an educational drama about violence in teen relationships.