202 Operatic Obituary

Thinking of sharks, I'm wary of their pretty teeth and how they show them pearly whites. And then I think of MacHeath and the jackknife he kept out of sight.

And I know that when the shark bites with his jagged teeth, scarlet billows start to spread, just oozin' life. But I also know ol' Mackie's too smart to get any blood on him. He wears gloves. Gloves that fit!

I didn't know Louie Miller. He was murdered on the Strand--a rich man gone, along with all his hard-earned cash. Then, that arson in Soho--those poor orphans. Oh, and what he did to that young widow!

I didn't know them.

I knew the rest, though. Those women. Knew them all. Loved them all. I had them all, when they were alive--dreaming, scheming, and ambitious.

Jenny Diver, a seamstress, was always plucking off the buttons of my fly. What fun! Sukey Tawdry had a lisp, but it never got in the way, if you catch my meanin'. Lotte Lenya, née Polly Peachum (but everyone knew her as Nancy) was very witty, until you got her alone, when she'd become only half-witty. I did that. I got her alone.

So did MacHeath!

And then there was ol' Lucy Brown, daughter of the police chief, Tiger Brown. A pretty little thing.

Lucile (MacHeath Smith McGuire Wilbert) Brown: all those husbands, all those heartbreaks. I always knew one of 'em would get her. And not just heartbreak, but actual heart failure. It's how we all go, idn't it, when you think about it?

He fell into the water with cement galoshes...

...his heart failed.

He was stabbed in the neck and bled and bled until...

...his heart failed.

He had an ice pick shoved into his head and then...

...his heart failed.

So, Lucy, I get. All those husbands. Think of her odds of getting at least one stinker. (Did I mention she married Mackie, AKA, "The Knife"?)

The murders stopped, but I'd know when Mackie'd be back. Line 'em up--the line forms on the right.

I knew them all. I loved them all. I had them all. I'd give a threepenny to have them all back.

_________

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iooViITRp9M https://thedemellotheorydotcom.wordpress.com/2013/01/18/between-the-lines-the-dissection-of-mack-the-knife/

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

For Saturday, July 20, Day 202 of the 2024 Story-a-Day Challenge

366 WORDS (without A/N)

Title-accompaniment photo was AI-generated but the pearly whites aren't.

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THE CHALLENGE GRINDS ON, 366 WORDS AT A TIME:

There are currently three surviving Vocal writers still participating in the insane 2024 Story-a-Day Challenge:

• L.C. Schäfer, challenge originator

• Rachel Deeming

• Gerard DiLeo (some other guy)

Read them. Support them. And mind the jackknife.