Its all about half cleft clauses
These days the (most interesting)
People are mostly broken, like a
Ballerina with no toes
Or a singer with nodes
Belting crooked c’s at the
Top of a whisper
(any louder and people would hear)

They sell themselves, stories for
Cheap print and cocktail conversation
(I couldn’t imagine living through that!)
Their 15 minutes shortened to
A mere two or three
Or however long the dregs
Of a mildly disinterested mixed drink lasts

We’re drunk on self-pity
Stumbling to work
Pockets full of loose change and antidepressants
The younger child, Daughter of
Excellence but far from Perfection
We contend with our silence
Because it has become our language