Inspiration Anthology 22a.pdf

Happier Than Ever
Inspired by ‘Happier Than Ever’, by Billie Eilish
Ironing moves slowly across the board from the creased pile to the smooth.
Shirts,
His shirts,
Gloating up at the weary eyes that have to straighten out every crinkle and crease earned after an
evening spent playing cards.
They must be laundered, pressed, and hung dutifully back in the closet.
In the corner a small radio plays,
It puts out an awful, tinny tune.
The mid-morning sun strikes the worn floral ironing-board cover feebly,
Outside the faint sounds of city life can be heard.
Cadillacs rumble casually over the saturated concrete,
Tinting the air with the faint aroma of gasoline and capitalism.
Inside, the noise is suppressed, as if distorted underwater.
The apartment stinks of stale cigarette smoke and cologne -
The stench seems to fall out of every pore of washed-out wallpaper, seeps from every atom of brown
stitching to be found in the pallid curtains.
New fabric for drapes had been a request dismissed.
Instead, the polished chestnut liquor cabinet stands proudly in the corner,
Each vial of caramel liquid catching the 11am news.
The iron hisses and gasps for water, the traffic recedes.
The air all around is still and oppressive.
Midday heat rises through the block and feels its way under the door.
In the bedroom the sheets are changed,
Duvet cover replaced,
Pillows plumped diligently.
Cufflinks are arranged neatly on the bedside cabinet,
A dress and underwear picked out for that evening -
Red, his favourite.
In the kitchen marigolds are donned.
Linoleum and mophead meet,
Back and forth, back and forth,
Until every inch of the surface is covered with hot soapy water,
Is scrubbed clean.
On the kitchen table, a magazine is perused,
The glossy pages filled with handsomeness and hairspray.
The 12 o’clock news.
Flick.
Flick.
Flick.