Kristen de Kline #74 - malfunctioned

Plastic Linda from Coburg
malfunctioned     just like that
the white plastic grids     didn't tangle
or spangle or do anything
fancy     but one of her spokes started
speaking out     didn't like the way your life was
heading     the highway up North or the road to nowhere
did it matter

she could have     broken down
on a cooler day     not an afternoon when you're
sweat saturated     your face is strangely bloodied  
flesh covered in petals like
     tear drops tattoos
but she chose     today     to quit working
just couldn't     get out of bed
could no longer fan the room
chase the breath     even the slow, melting kisses
she was no longer interested in tracking down

Plastic Linda was right out of warranty and even if she was in warranty you'd have no ideas where it was and even if you could find the docket the purple ink would have faded so nobody could read it whichever way     you look at it     you're stuffed

... it was Plastic Linda's nineteenth nervous breakdown
well that's what Mick Jagger     told you
in lyrics     you can remember
lines that run amuck in your head for an uncomfortably
     long time
my accountant told me I should find a day job
poetry won't replace Plastic Linda
my maths have never been that good
it could have been     the twentieth malfunction
     but who's counting
Plastic Linda has weathered heatwaves firestorms relationship breakups
I guess it was only a matter of time before
she malfunctioned    before the spokes started
chattering      amongst themselves
in the dark     it's a beautiful place
or so the other poets tell you