Monday, December 16, 2013

measured (this is what she learned)

measured (this is what she learned)

I have swallowed these words like bullets.


this is what she learned

there would be a certain amount of time
(and that would be forever)
when she would be watched

a circumspect gaze of judgment
that measured her against all other women
and left her in relief like a leaf in granite

this is how she held her head
this is how her knees touched
this is how shoes raised her heels

so that the arch of her back slightly turned
the smoothness of her skin in the light
and the fullness of her cleavage exposed

could all be dutifully captured in photographs
as the clock counted up and then spiraled down
and no one had ever once looked at her


this is what she knew

he would take her bare feet into his hands and lap
pressing his thumbs into the arch of each one

them together there alone he would close his eyes
while she read the words she wrote that were she

No comments:

Post a Comment