Julia Kanno is an artist and poet living in Cambridge, MA.

Cat in the cradle
Aka antique yellow man

By Julia Kanno Tlou
7/09/24

We took the fast ferry
To Provincetown,
Dog with us,
Licking invisible airsalt,
From the ocean.
We had a plan,
Beach, raw clams, and lobster.
And hike the dunes.
I was mortified about the dunes,
Thinking of drowning into a sinkhole,
Sand methodically slow,
filling my throat,
Eyes,
And esophagus,
I would aspirate and choke,
Before that death gurgle,
Before it hit my other organs.
So,
We did not go to the dunes!
As we walked,
His hand at times reserved and,
Gently,
Firm and strong,
At the nape,
Of my bony back,
And me desperately at times
Fiercely,
Interlocking our white and brown fingers.
I look at how my shade that reminds me of toblerone chocolates,
With my new found liver spots
And paint filled nails,
As I hold out hands up,
Towards north star,
I am marinated,
In
In..

Alabaster magic of his skin,
His nails are immaculate.
After eating the vulva of the sea,
(Clams)
And the roaches of the ocean (lobsters)
We stumble upon
antique store,
The owner is playing Cat Stevens,
“And the cat and the cradle…”
He welcomes us to look around,
Yet there is a yellow tint in his eye,
And his skin is fresh corn yellow.
We look around this universe,
Of the past.
He stays seated,
The other antique shop we explored,
The 80 year old owner,
Jumped to his feet and started clapping,
I loved their makeup,
He said he had a rough night,
A boat party,
And his name on the boat was
Demolition.
They / them..
Showed us everything,
Even the black clay
mammy doll,
With big lips and holding a
Porcelain piece of watermelon.
In yellow man’s shop
I saw the tubes
A wound vac,
Tubes into his side
Like hungry eels
Hidden by
A badly placed
Cashmere blanket.
It was a
Vintage chair,
And later,
I noticed the bloated,
Parchment thin,
Yellow skin,
From scalp to big toe.
He stares at the dark cloud
Waiting,
More seductive than,
A ripe virgin,
The grim reaper,
Has arrived.
I read an obituary
And he died
Alone
With is his prescriptions
For Aids
Emptied,
One pill landed
Inside an angel statues
Mouth.