In honor of the Fashion Week shows circling the world's chicest cities, I'm sending a few down this cyber-catwalk:
Fashion Plate
That high concept dish,
restricted to a diet unbalanced by
pretentious marshmallow fluff and
stitches that catch in the teeth,
spoils the appetite for women
who defy labels
in favor of fine regaling
When I know a crush is
dropping by even when
I know he doesn’t
think of me
that way
I might leave out
prop dressing perfumed
with innuendo
along the casual sightlines:
an agitated comforter
flashing some polished stilettos
gauzy silk robe glissading
off a chair back
a man’s name and number
ballpointed into a cocktail napkin
evoking the saltednutsweat
darkness of a downtown bar
a spaghetti-strapped gown
kittenishly curled in the bathroom corner
as if disrobed in trystful haste
the closet ajar with shimmying shadows
all falsified evidence of secrets
that never existed except for the one
I always leave out:
I love you.
What You Can’t See
starting at my navel
deliberately buttoning it down
one off
“accidentally” offering
flashes of cleavage
sliding off shoulders
just so
happens with a sly shrug—
as if you could see that
since you’ve gone
you can’t see me
in the checkered shirt
could have been a gift
which would have spared me
the indignity of having to
steal from you
before getting out of bed
I dishevel myself,
almost as well as you used to
just enough
pretending
last night’s seizure
grasping at empty space
won’t happen again
Strip Poker
Though I’ve never lost,
I’ve also never won
gambled on all the wrong jacks
and no matter who cut the deck
or cut out of town first
the mix-matched deuce of cowards
were always too yellow
to call each other’s bluffs
masters of three-card monte
can’t call a spade a spade
‘cause that’s against the rules.
This time around
I’m playing strip poker
carefully considering the hand
Lady Luck has dealt me
have you noticed the
royal red flush that has
rushed to my head
and won’t go away?
old habits say: keep cards
close to your chest,
but playing in the buff
keeps you honest—
without a sleeve
for hiding your heart.