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On the way to work
this morning, a tall blond man locked his blue eyes
with mine and asked, loudly,
Are you going to
wake up tomorrow young-er, with all the money you’ve
made? Boy was I angry.
*
I was angry all the
way to work. He must’ve thought I live in one of the
four new condo buildings on the block, but I live in
a tiny two-bedroom with slanted floors and a roof
that leaks in four places. My bathroom’s so small
you can sit on the toilet and throw up in the sink
simultaneously. Not that I’ve done this. I’m just
saying.
*
What did he know, I
thought. By this time I was at work, a
pharmaceutical advertising agency. Boy was I angry.
Pharmaceutical companies have to make money somehow.
Their drugs keep me from spending days locked in my
office crying like I used to. I’m just saying. They
keep me from having babies.
*
Because I don’t want
babies right now I’m one of five blonde women
without power in a boardroom. We’re listening to
three men with power discuss endometrial ablation.
Sketches of a uterus made of water. Of uterus as
shield. As bull, as lily. The Great Wall.
*
The Hoover Dam.
*
Because I don’t want
to be locked in my office crying like I used to I
receive daily updates called “Vaginitis Hotsheets.”
It’s not like I dreamt of doing this, but I used to
spend money to make myself happy so I didn’t have
any. Because I didn’t have any I needed to make
myself happy.
*
How many of us end up
where we actually want to go? A bathroom where you
can sit on the toilet and throw up simultaneously.
It’s not like I dreamt of doing this. Are we going
to wake up tomorrow young-er, with all the money
we’ve made? I’m just saying. What does he know.

Most days I just want
to live
in a Crate & Barrel catalog.
I can't stop watching
Law & Order.
I'm losing heat and
you aren't here
to absorb it. The free daily
calls this recycling program "ineffective."
You said erection and I felt health class,
CPR dummy. You took the free condoms.
I’m Artificial Annie.
There's no lifeguard on duty.
Dear High School
Reunion,
Dear Pedestal Effect—
I spend a lot of time trying
to increase the space between my pinky
toe and the rest of my foot.
I am my own alien,
my own porn star.
Spectacular, stunted.
What is Occam’s razor?
The best thing about a sandwich
is not the pickle next to it.
I am damaged but still
quite good.
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