September 17, 2019:
Beauty at the fan wall.
Band posters, album posters.
Her friend's identity: '80s American Indie.
R.E.M., Jason and the Scorchers, Chris Stamey, Love Tractor, The Replacements:
that atavistic moment when Reagan re-segregated the airwaves,
and all those white college students experienced that as a step forward.
Beauty's in the corner, surprisingly thin, her lovely thick shagged hair died henna.
There's a club stamp on her left hand, her eyes are thick with heavy black makeup.
Her lips are full, her skin is glorious, her body is pure sex.
She stands without smile, looking frail.
I read pain, great sadness, desolation, heartbreak, loneliness.
But that's because I know her, better than anyone knows her;
and it's because I feel guilty that I'm the cause of those hurts.
Her spidery writing on the back: "Madison Wisconsin June 1985".