I am dodging bullets lately;
I am hiding out from ***** and the Chinaman.

They want to hold me hostage until I say I am sorry for my sorry life.

I am trying to stand tall and lay low;
It isn't easy being me these days.

I know I am trouble;
I can count the ways.

My life has been a grand folly but it isn't over and I am not changing a thing about myself except perhaps the arch of my eyebrows.

***** and the Chinaman

Your voice in my ear that day;
So unexpected;
So predictably you.
I recalled the walled city of your smile and how many times I had been a guest there.

A French Woman