What women want

A poem that I wrote for my MFA. I can't find anyone with big enough balls to publish it, even the feminists! I think it's good enough, and it deserves to be read.


What Women Want

I want a red dress.
I want a small waist and big
exotic eyes, the kind that get me noticed.
I want men to swoon
when I speak, even when the words echo
my distaste for them.
I want you
to stop and wait for me
when I fall behind, distracted
by the scent of lilacs or the pile of dogshit
that resembles a man
we both know.

I want to wear flannel shirts. I want
to shed this skin
and wade into the March river, clear and biting,
the current raging. I want
to sit around a campfire, cheeks on high
from whiskey burning in my guy
I want to laugh and be certain
it isn’t too loud, it doesn’t make me ugly.

I want to touch all your right places,
my hands made of peacock feathers, lithe
and vibrant. I want
to flood you with the red
of my dress, comfort you with the soft
flannel of my shirt. I want
to erode away all the girls
you loved before me, the pretty ones
you won’t forget.

I want lakes of fire
in my thighs so I can sear my name
on you, make you wear
it: mailbox, bank account, byline.

The same way I wear yours.