Baccarat & Whores
Why the ballet is named Baccarat & Whores
nobody knows.
The Artistic Director is fond of nostalgia,
ribs and riffs, orgy scenes
set against a cloud of delicate tulle.
Mark it from the top—
I like impact play
despotic roles,
cinq, rond, pas…
bodies like deflating parachutes.
Her fate depends on the throw of a nine-sided die.
Swan Lake is a dark kink of heavy metals.
My Life with the Berberian Sound Studio
Soundscape
Sound and vision
Sound bite
Soundbox
Sound alike
Sound proof
Sound out
Sound as a bell
So()()()()()()()()und
Empty vessels make the most sound
Sound asleep
Ring out
Ring hollow
Play by ear
Sound as a roach
Sound as a barrel
Sound and fury
Sound as a pound
Saw logs
Bleep out
Blow the whistle
Dial it +
Listen to her purr
Strike a n()()())))te
Key OFF
Sound as a dollar
Sounds like a plan
Sounds like a broken record
Sound off
Dead air
Sound the alarm
Fidelio
Fidelio for every argument in 1999.
Life goes on. Just ask George Bailey
about the story of Helen of Troy, Cupid and Psyche,
the invitation to the end of the rainbow.
Snow falls like split swallowtails on empty carparks.
Fidelio for the blazoned days and broken toys,
every jack-in-the-box sprung from nothing;
Fidelio for the locked doors in glass city,
the shadow younger, and Elder. The masks looming in trees.
The password is a lick of fear in the gut.
— Damon Hubbs is a poetry editor at Blood+Honey and The Argyle Literary Magazine. His latest collection of poems, Bullet Pudding, is forthcoming from Roadside Press in 2026. He lives in New England.