Wednesday, March 08, 2006

"Baby You Look Great, What's Your Trade?"

There is something unexpected
About the woman cutting off her skin
In the corner,

About the pile she is leaving
As she unravels herself
By turning herself around

With her hands held high.

There is something strange
About her empty cupboards,
Her floors covered in orange peels,

And the shape of the skin
She leaves behind with the clothes
On her front step,

Exhibitionist? No.

There is something familiar
About the bowls she leaves in the bathroom
Hoping not a soul will find them

About the words she uses to avoid
The subject all the time
And the hands she uses to rub her ribs

From behind her.

And especially the gold bracelets
Adorning her wrist,
The hours spent straightening

Her tight and furled up hair
Curling her lashes black,
And staring in the mirror

Not daring to touch the skin
she tries not to notice
falling quickly to the ground.

3 comments:

Mike Juneau said...

wow

how did you come up with this?

Anonymous said...

well i had a poetry reading to go to and nothing to read and it had been brewing in my mind over the last couple of days because i am crazy and nuts and couldn't sleep and always think of thinks like removing skin and veins and blood and taking off your clothes and oranges and being naked and eating and not eating and woman and my dirty house which you cant see in the poem but which i see when i read it and i am stupid and crazy and that is how i came up with it. and we need to get together and read books because i have a lot of good poems in books that you should read.

Caitlin Carr said...

ha ha ha jacqui i love you