Rebecca Lynn
THE SEA IS NOT A PEACEFUL PLACE,
all spirits of all the long legged
& lipsticked things before me move the current,
and bring him crashing.
i sing to men only until i am sure they are dead.
i never told anyone to name my body anything.
but they’ve called me dangerous since
my first bra.
now, i twerk under a cheap black light
& when a man wants to crash his entire savings into me,
i let him
i love free drink
& taking my heels off after work
i buy a new top
& paint my nails
me,
the other girls,
the ones who work here for a few months
& the ones who will work here for a few years,
we leave lipstick stains,
& old joints,
in the corner of the changing room,
for our shifts, we post up
half naked
& laughing
always, laughing
listen,
i love his bank account
& his friend’s too
but,
every night i am just trying to survive,
but i guess i be
slut
whore
siren
any name you can give to something a man will kill himself chasing
& aint i monster for taking from men as much as they do from me
listen,
all i ever did was move in a way he liked
there was never any song, he made that up
i laid on the shore
or maybe
i stretched out on a rock in the sun
i never told any man to crash his boat into anything but here i am
all i ever did was dance
& if he would’ve kept his eyes to himself
he would’ve seen the rocks