“I Sang It in a Love Song, So It Must Be True” by Alison Kronstadt

VOICEMAIL POEMS

Sometimes I wish I could stop you from talking when I hear the silly things you say Alison, I know this world is killing you Oh Alison, my aim is true - Elvis Costello, “Alison” I was named for a catcall strung out into three verses and a chorus Ballad drowning in mystery fansites say she’s a pretty stranger his eye caught at the grocery store maybe an ex-fling scraping out a fetus with half his DNA Elvis Costello says my aim is true he might mean it literally No one wastes time on what Alison might say but I am Alison so to Elvis Costello to anyone who has ever claimed to love me Take my name out of your mouth. Your eyes lied when they looked at me and told you muse Damsel I’m the troll under the bridge Asked for peace Got this trap, trap trap Every echo hissing my name in a hated cadence saying: we sing because we love Who wouldn’t want a passion sharp enough to carve the melody of you into the air? I was a child the first time I was dragged from my body and into verse the first time someone thought their love meant they could take my name bend it into a circle to crown them prince or failing that martyr against the heresy of my refusal I ran into the arms of a boy who never sang did what Elvis couldn’t: gift me a contagious silence whistling a hole through my head to land in my own mouth I survived him only to stumble through more poets stitching me into metaphor muting me to make way for the romance they knew they deserved If I were love, I’d say: take my name out of your mouth Set it ablaze I would rather be ash than what you’ve made of me Alison means “of noble birth” A princess of course needs not just a hero but a narrator Her voice only good for singing to the forest creatures The moral only ever Sit Wait Someone will love you enough to speak for you to dirty your name What a happy ending. ————————————– Alison Kronstadt called us from Boston, MA. SUPPORT US ON PATREON: http://patreon.com/voicemailpoems http://voicemailpoems.org/guidelines http://facebook.com/voicemailpoems http://twitter.com/voicemailpoems http://voicemailpoems.org/thepodcast