Have you really outgrown your blackout phase?
The most intelligent conversation I’ve had
on a gay bar dance floor regarded you.
It was hard to hear and the fellow was tall
and muscular, so I half-caught his words,
half-painted him above me in my bedroom.
He said we only loved you as a disaster —
probably a severe summer thunderstorm
because it’s brilliant and flashy and fills us
with thrill and fear but doesn’t destroy us.
I can’t remember exactly what he shouted.
Britney, you’ve tried so hard for us time and again
and failed miserably so take my advice: only
an unstable atmosphere produces lightning.
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