billie
Billie
you’re an inflammatory comment
slouched at the lights
waiting to cross the road
face stripped bare
to every car
your legs (god, legs!) arrest me
high school slut
you in a short dress
no socks
do nothing to please me
except what keeps you
occupied
I’ll watch
in the rear mirror, look at you
later
so you’ll endure?
cleave?
cut your losses?
your mother’s obduracy
your father’s
mind
they’re absorbed
in the olive
within you
your father’s other lives
your mother’s
lies
I’ve seen her
push the flesh
into place
when I come
to your
door
like you
she won’t take no
for an answer