At first my favorite was Storm: her waterfall

of white hair that touched her butt that was cut,

shockingly into a mohawk, to accessorize

her ripped leather pants and jacket.  I also received

fashion advice from Zantanna, or rather, her legs.

When she's on the page I can't look away

from those fishnets.  (And now own five.)

Then came senior year, the time when I dyed

my hair black to be like Domino, who's mutant power

is to control luck and thus can wrestle grizzly bears.

I needed it at the time but when I became like Rogue

because the roots on my head began to show, my self-esteem

plummeted.  I was not sexy. So I went goth,

a Witch Hunter Robin: skirts down to my ankles,

shirts with puffed sleeves; my prom dress looked

like a Macbeth costume. What does this say about me,

wanting to be six foot with perfect hair, triple D breasts,

muscles that would make me a knock out?

Grammy told me that when she was little

and sick her father, with good intentions,

brought home the two things she hated most:

black licorice and Superman comics.  Both scary.  

I set my needlepoint aside for my first comic (X-Men #318),

and everything seems relevant since.

When I was five I couldn't choose between

Nicholas or Danny, just like Phoenix

couldn't chose between Wolverine and Cyclops.

We know now she married Cyclops, but he cheated

on her with the White Queen just as Mom cheated on Dad

with Jim. Invisible Woman has been able to keep

her affections for Namor alongside her marriage

to Mr. Fantastic. Yet it seems that Catwoman

can't get any action unless it's to help boost

Batman reader ratings.   Oracle helped too.

Shot in the spine by the Joker and now helps

from an office in the Gotham Clock Tower, living

vicariously through Batman's radio. Though she didn't die

like Blink did when she first came to the front line

and got infected by the Phalanx, and I couldn't

help but think of her when I sat on my bed flipping

through a copy of Our Bodies, Ourselves crying

because I thought I had chlamydia though I swore

that I really hadn't done too much with him.  Not like

Buffy who was busy with not one, but two vampires. 

Not like Psylocke who almost made it with Angel