Your Favorite Poems

daisygrrl · 12-28-2009, 12:49 PM

“Party Dress for a First Born”
By Rita Dove

Headless girl so ill at ease on the bed,
I know, if you could, what you’re thinking of:
nothing. I used to think that, too,
whenever I sat down to a full plate
or unwittingly stepped on an ant.
When I ran to my mother, waiting radiant
as a cornstalk at the edge of the field,
nothing else mattered: the world stood still.

Tonight men stride like elegant scissors across the lawn
to the women arrayed there, petals waiting to loosen.
When I step out, disguised in your blushing skin,
they will nudge each other to get a peek
and I will smile, all the while wishing them dead.
Mother’s calling. Stand up: it will be our secret.

12-28-2009, 12:49 PM	#8
daisygrrl Member How Do You Identify?: mouthy but adorable; kinky Gerbera Preferred Pronoun?: hey, cutie (or dudette) Relationship Status: xoxo Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: The South (Gooogia peach) Posts: 475 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 2,157 Thanked 524 Times in 223 Posts Rep Power: 1065210	“Party Dress for a First Born” By Rita Dove Headless girl so ill at ease on the bed, I know, if you could, what you’re thinking of: nothing. I used to think that, too, whenever I sat down to a full plate or unwittingly stepped on an ant. When I ran to my mother, waiting radiant as a cornstalk at the edge of the field, nothing else mattered: the world stood still. Tonight men stride like elegant scissors across the lawn to the women arrayed there, petals waiting to loosen. When I step out, disguised in your blushing skin, they will nudge each other to get a peek and I will smile, all the while wishing them dead. Mother’s calling. Stand up: it will be our secret. __________________ You can’t change that system by just getting your own rights, tinkering with the engine and leaving. You have to take on the whole machine. --Riki Anne Wilchins Hold on to the lessons, let go of the pain. --Leslie Feinberg