Cocteau, and: Babylonian Commercial Company Interview, Excerpt

Abstract

Cocteau, and: Babylonian Commercial Company Interview, Excerpt Kate Partridge (bio) Cocteau In Siduri’s time, stormspass like motorcycles up the coast—bluntand roaring in their paths, but brief. She improvisesa shelter—her back below the thick spine of the table,the only restraint against walking into the wind,pitchy outside between bursts of sand, static songshe could disappear in if not for the throbbingin her teeth. [End Page 20] Babylonian Commercial Company Interview, Excerpt Interviewer: You’re aware that it’s likely You won’t have any customers For several months, at least. Siduri: Yes. I: Will you have any family members traveling with you? S: A wine glass. I: Pets? S: My voice, when it isn’t lost. I: What will you do during that time? S: Practice my penmanship. I: Really. S: Play strip poker with the horsemaids. Translate the complete works of Philip Glass using the collision of sea-objects. Build temples out of firewood and burn them down. [End Page 21] I: Are you mourning anyone? S: Used to hop the fence behind the school and line up 20 hockey balls across the 50 yard line, then drill them into the cage one by one. In our neighborhood, this sound was gunfire. Cops surrounded the field and flipped their headlights on at once. Bright! Young! Strong! Muscular! I: Are you mourning anyone? S: She was always going out in the dark. [End Page 22] Kate Partridge Kate Partridge received her MFA from George Mason University, and her poems and lyric essays have appeared in Colorado Review, Carolina Quarterly, RHINO, BLOOM, Better: Culture & Lit, and Verse Daily. She lives in Anchorage, where she teaches at the University of Alaska and co-edits Gazing Grain Press. Copyright © 2015 University of Wisconsin Board of Regents