houdini()

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one-woman.act;
meat.cleaver(across.my.waist);
double.sawing(illusion);
trick.tent(paranoia);

sawdust.cuts(through.light);
round.arena;
staged(fucking.curse);

faceless.crowd(cheers.for.blood);
puppets(background.stringed);
sweating(over.heineken);

mannequin.splits;
hostile.truths;
phantom.limbs(of.shame);
raised.borders(of.my.thighs);
theatre.agape;

have.me(less.awake);

exposed.flesh(set.aside);
without.ceremony;
your.fingers(trace.spine);
not.mine;

powder(evidence.away);
twist.my.neck(dry);
wilted.slapstick;

someone.claps;
man.whistles;

claustrophobic(surplus);
head.poking(boxed.torso);
my.ribs(heart-scald);
cradle(your.stone);
i.name.it(mine);

audience.applauds;
cheers.haunt(me);
aftermath(of.brutality);

let.this.pass;
bleach.hot(backbone);
throat(in.exile);
gag(over-recited.lines);
bitter.spit;

coiled.spotlight;
magician.dominion(elusive);
velvet.drapes(too.late);

hands.spitting(famine);
starving(for.better.view);

press.me.shut(back.together);
let.doubt(disappear);
violent.houdini.vanish;

glitter.embellished(silk);
between(my.tights);
he.scavenges(sorrowed.fabric);

rhinestone;
after.rhinestone;
after.rhinestone;

masochistic(hoops);
sloping(inwards);
nothing.in.me(resists);

untangling.force(amplified);
accidental.lip(bleed);
bedazzled;

restless;
ask(more.of.you);
make.world(stop);
claw.me.out;
lights(cut.black);

audience.dispersed;
no.one(gets.paid);
spectacle.died(on.its.own);

did.i.taint.you?

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[inspo: Beyonce. Lemonade (2016)]

[photo.credit: Howard Thurston, archival photograph, early 20th century]