bed bath & beyond: a play in four acts

i’ll shave my legs
because radical feminists don’t
three inches above the knee
because nice girls don’t
wouldn’t be a part of any club
that might have me
i’ll run a brush through my hair
but it won’t mean anything

i have received your message
and look forward
to our future partnerships
although i must admit
a certain reluctance
to trade this book for black lace

selah

and the flipside
depilate and moisturize
if there’s fucking to be done
there’s plucking to be done
these boys they love a smooth leg
and if your skin ain’t soft
you might as well kill yourself

the price of beauty is high
you’ve seen the tiny cuts
around the ankle
the ones that just won’t stop

still i feel so low
but who cares
this isn’t about me
this is about pretty

i could not have done this
in march
this is lavender scented lotion
and
i couldn’t afford a different bottle

selah

this morning i woke up and nothing
was wrong
i lit a cigarette and remembered
war exists and we are still sick

but those first two minutes
were perfect calm
sunrise on pale skin
nightborn halitosis
and quick-flashed memories
of ecstatic rope and saliva
unmatched pieces of a semicolon

selah

i tell the doctor it hurts
when i press here
she says, then don’t.