Whitney's Greatest Love/Mix
R. Zamora Linmark
Whitney Houston why did you have to marry/die
more crack/lesbian rumors threading
on Yahoo day before Grammy’s/drowning
in Beverly Hills bathtub of bankruptcy/booze
and pills as if not enough shit/Hollywood
in the world another tragic diva/New Jersey native
gone another reality/rerun to entertain ennui
outrage at seeing you/our Whitney leave full-blast
without a farewell lamb/lambast from Republican
tea/pat-on-the-shoulder time or die-hards/dykes
blaming/shouting boo Bobby/drugs as the time
I sat nosebleed seat/God inside Aloha
Stadium/flea market and listened while you
lose/pray for a voice to stay throughout “I Will
Always Love You” who could forget/forgive
then-hubby was front act/cover-up some say
to appease/please Jesus as two freshmen girls
from another memory danced/touched to “All
the Man That I Need” s/he fills me up
s/he gives me love who cares you’re gone now
embraceable more so irreplaceable Aretha/Lena
in-one as one musician/critic said blossoming
alongside Reagan/Boy George and my very
first/deep kiss from a geek/hot how will I ever
forget/thank you in slinky dress/grey matching
long/tight-fitting arm warmers pink frosty lips
MTV’s biggest bow on your head singing/dancing
to the very top of the world/chart “How Will I
Know” knowing/learning what I already knew
right then or thought I did about love/losing
during a brief moment/eternity in one’s life.
R. Zamora Linmark is the author of three collections of poetry, Prime Time Apparitions, The Evolution of a Sigh, and Drive-By Vigils, all from Hanging Loose Press. He also published two novels, Rolling the R's, which he'd adapted for the stage, and Leche. The poems that appear in this issue are from his next collection tentatively titled et al.
