Venus Calling

In the dark, dark city
There is a dark, dark road
And on the dark, dark road
Is a bright, bright light
And by the bright, bright light
There is a red, red box
And in the red, red box
There is a black, black phone
And by the black, black phone
There is a pink, pink card
And on the pink, pink card
There is a short, short name
And the short, short name
is ‘Venus’.

I dial the number beneath the name
And a ring tone hums
Then a woman breathes
inside my ear:

“Hello, this is Venus”

I say

“I’m Venus”

She says

“OK Venus, what do you like?”

So I tell her:

“Seagulls and razors
and seaman…and crabs.”

There’s silence on the line
And I can hear her breathe
I feed her coins, to keep her with me.

She tells me that she’s wet
So I ask

“Are you in the sea?”

Then she starts to talk
about fingers and seams.

She says

“Are you there?”

And I nod down the phone

She says

“Are you there?”

Then she starts to moan.

I hang up the receiver
But ring straight back
She calls me a tease
Then starts to laugh

Then a car slides by
Then a woman with a man

I curl a finger round the wire
And lean against the glass.

And she wants me to come
But I don’t know where.

She asks about my clothes
I tell her I’m bare.

There’s litter on the road
And her breath seems to quicken

I say

“Who are you?”

She says

‘Whoever”.