Is Next To
pink legs hang over plastic chair.
she sits, shaven, smelly
of perfumed products praising promising
youth
fertility (or lack thereof)
and sex appeal. but
what happened to how pretty her dusty cheeks shone
in sunlight, skinned skinniness
and elbows in awe of air.
I like you better dirty,
flawless and rolled in gravelly soil
dark-rimmed fingernails
and possibly a tear
from a recent discovery’s
nothingness.
hair tangled, not blown-dry and gelled.
limbs askew, not neatly folded and buffed.
cleanliness, to me, of you,
is your perfect shimmering sweat above
chapped lips that silent smile.
© 1997 by Halsted M. Bernard
published in Galápagos (October 1997)