Deborah Levy

AN AMOROUS DISCOURSE IN THE SUBURBS OF HELL

 
(an extract)
 

 
She
 
i said nothing 
i said nothing 
i said looking

 	                  down into the suburbs

and beyond

i saw

sad stars      fall

like halos

on men and women

howling into the damp crease of their past

i saw first worlds 
blister            the skin 
of other worlds

zebras

gallop            through 
burning suns    to 
the shade of long 
grasses,    and
 
somewhere else,    love 
affairs in old hotels

with balconies

i saw beggars beg

in every language    children fear 
death in every language

and i saw you

weeping on your doormat 
decided to    become

a commuter 
between heaven 
and

the suburbs of hell

you seemed like a good 
sort of man

an accountant

with culinary tendencies 
tho’ lacking in charisma 
(look at your tie)

the task 
to

bring you 
into

the light 
and dark

of uncertainty

the two great themes 
of classical science

chaos

 	     and 

 	              order 

undressing and 
dressing and 
cross dressing and 
overdressing and

addressing envelopes

He

Sounds like hard work
To me

I like plain shampoos
Soaps

Ecologically sound
Detergents

One hundred per cent
Wool

Good strong tea

Olive oil (budget permitting)
I like the light

To be just light
And the dark
To just be dark

I do not wish to live in a grey area
Or to read between the lines
Love must start on the first line
Continue on every line

No line without love
And then she marries me
That is my wish
 
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DEBORAH LEVY writes fiction, plays and poetry. Her work has been staged by the Royal Shakespeare Company, and she is the author of highly praised books including Beautiful Mutants, Swallowing Geography and Billy and Girl.
Her novel, Swimming Home (2011, And Other Stories) was shortlisted for the 2012 Man Booker Prize, 2012 Specsavers National Book Awards (UK Author of the Year) and 2013 Jewish Quarterly Wingate Prize, while the title story of her most recent work of fiction, Black Vodka: ten stories, was shortlisted for the 2012 BBC International Short Story Award. An Amorous Discourse in the Suburbs of Hell is published by And Other Stories.
 
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Read more about Deborah Levy:

 
Review of Black Vodka and ‘Things I Don’t Want to Know’ in The New York Times
Interview in Booktrust
Interview in Bookanista
Author’s website