Beauty is Imperfection

It hangs from a

single stud,

A belt pierced by a boutonniere and tailor’s needles

More than something they fight over:

A belt that draws sisters together at the waist

Two girls, undressed

By the same hands

passing the same cigarette back and forth

Kick around the closet rooting for shoes, brown shoes

Unscrewing notebooks and letters

And light bulbs and kisses

From old sockets

Scratching their nipples

comparing white, sickly tongues

Throwing tampons, tampons

Like cotton footballs, soft dross

of earrings

falling next to pictures of a man

In this closet, love is spoken in clicks and whistles

And anger is passed along the warm lip

of a brandy glass

(Originally posted Aug. 20, 2007)