March 2021

Aren't you tired yet --
Of repeating yourself constantly
And holding your arms above your head for those vile flies to rise up
Yet they seek only your frame
The way your dress sits on hips you were given
And the way your nipples naturally answer questions asked by passing breezes
Then to the spaces in between filled with their limited imagination
Of perfect women on screens only watched in bedrooms alone
Removing articles of clothing and pieces of you with them
Forgetting stretch marks you earned marking your growth
And the birthmarks that signify only you

You keep holding your arms above your head for those vile flies to rise up
But in this Virginia humidity,
They avert your eyes
Because to see you would be to acknowledge you are human
What a thought.

Tunnel Vision

This poem was featured with an accompanying artwork in a solo exhibition at Second Street Gallery (2021).

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Through new eyes, recently awakened

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The most serene of purples