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      May 13, 2012KnownJenny Hanning

      We can talk about my failure until the cows come home
      Meaning, Baby,
      It’s a fact
      —Like how the health teacher told us about body types
      Some girls, she said, will just be heavy
      They could diet till the cows come home and still be heifers—
      And how she laughed at her own joke
      And how the fat girls started to sweat with shame
      And I was skinny in that made of sticks way
      That comes with being young
      And I was skinny, but there were other girls
      Who wore their bones like corsets
      And fat girls with pretty fat girl faces who would do anything
      To feel pretty and not fat
      So I laughed—I laughed along
      —I let you down,
      Did I?
      Of course I did—
      This is something that you could have read in the leaves
      Tea leaves gathered at the bottom of the cup
      Leaves gathered in the gutter
      Or written in the saliva words
      I tongued across your stomach, your thighs, your trusting back
      You were shown a thing or two a long while ago
      —Remember that day our health teacher
      Said those ugly words
      And I laughed—
      I laughed like the girl I was
      And that should have told you something
      That right there, should have told you a lot

      from #28 - Winter 2007