Untitled #2

Lined from head to toe
In frills
Flowered patterns
Department store smells

The cloth was laid out on the guest room mattress
I was the only one who wasn't running late
I think this got to them
Even before everything obvious did

They had to cake on the colors
Suck in their guts
Paint their faces bright yellow
Lock shoulders
And wrap extravagant boxes
With bows
And silk paper

You gave me the same kind of look I was giving everyone else
I would later find out that this wasn't you
But rather the you that you felt forced into

I would hold onto it, though
Marking it in time as the first of many looks you probably wouldn't think about
Nearly as much as I used to
Before the robes
And similar symmetrical lines

I bet you forgot the dance too
And the kiss that followed
Before you passed out in one of the metal folding chairs
And I stole sips from the forgotten glasses at the head table

What bliss I felt as the warmth continued to spin
Around my stomach
Until dad said mom was taking a cab home

-C.W.