Cool
\nlike the Virginia waterfalls
\nhis eyes undressed her and
\nyet, his stiff smile
\ndemanded such reverence
\nfrom her.<\/p>\n
Rust-gold
\nlike the hawkweeds of summer,
\nhis eyelashes, cast fringed shadows on his cheeks
\nwhenever he closed his eyes…
\nfreckles floating
\nlike nutmeg
\non his creamed complexion.<\/p>\n
His touch
\ncaused the downy ringlets
\non her neck
\nto stand rigid, the way
\nstatic electricity did
\nwhenever they came together<\/p>\n
their affair
\nfar from the reach of others.<\/p>\n
His ownership of her
\nconfused her since
\nownership of anything was
\nsomething she\u2019d never understood<\/p>\n
never having owned anything herself
\nmaterial wealth
\nties
\nnot even an identity.<\/p>\n
Her ownership of him
\nlasted all of one hour
\nof each day<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
of each week
\nthe months
\nstretching into years
\nor however long it took semen rivulets
\nto carve shame
\ninto his flaccid
\nforty-year-old flesh<\/p>\n
to erode history
\nfrom the face
\nof Mount Rushmore<\/p>\n
that stiff smile
\nstill commanding such reverence<\/p>\n
while
\nshe lay prone
\nfrown forming
\nan indentation
\nin the shape
\nof a question mark
\non his pillow,
\nblood on satin sheets leaving
\na period
\non the end
\nof a lifelong sentence.<\/p>\n
****<\/p>\n
When she was eight
\nher petticoat had been
\nspotted red
\nfrom his daughter\u2019s rage<\/p>\n
fueled by displacement
\nblurred boundaries
\nand lost lineages.<\/p>\n
He\u2019d taught her not to cry
\nno matter how deep the wound
\nhandkerchief pressed to her temple.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
He\u2019d taught her everything
\nshe knew about life\u2015
\neverything: plants, animals, music, culture.<\/p>\n
She\u2019d learned to tie her own shoes
\nto smile
\nand keep going.<\/p>\n
This, she\u2019d learned
\nwith a pat on the head
\nhis hands, the color of powdered wigs,
\nsoft like the feather of a quill pen.<\/p>\n
These days\u2019ll never end…<\/p>\n
She\u2019d assumed, wanting
\nwhat he\u2019d been to her
\nwhat she\u2019d been to him
\nto remain as it was
\nalways.<\/p>\n
****<\/p>\n
But her spidery countenance
\nhad begun to plumpen
\nand curve<\/p>\n
to strain
\nagainst every seam
\nof every garment…<\/p>\n
beauty bursting at all angles
\nhad filled the gaps
\nof a self-effacing smile
\nwhere once there\u2019d been baby teeth.<\/p>\n
Her siren good looks
\nhad sealed that once
\nrespectable distance
\nbetween master and minion
\nwhere the ragged edges of adolescence
\nonce reigned…<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
and, one day
\nwhile serving tea
\nher supple silhouette
\nhad splashed
\nupon the sunlit floor
\nof his chamber
\nher eyes
\ngreen-flecked pools
\nof liquid amber, shimmering
\nin the fading light…<\/p>\n
gave way to
\nbuttons popped
\nhis smooth, soap-like hands
\nunlacing the ribbons
\non the fine gowns he bought her….<\/p>\n
Irresistible<\/em><\/p>\n and so she was, and Confusion to hold on and though Cool like the Virginia waterfalls his eyes undressed her and yet, his stiff smile demanded such reverence from her. Rust-gold like the hawkweeds of summer, his eyelashes, cast fringed shadows on his cheeks whenever he closed his eyes… freckles floating like nutmeg on his creamed complexion. His touch caused the downy ringlets on her neck … Continue reading Irresistable<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":158,"featured_media":1441,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[],"issue":[6871],"class_list":["post-1440","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-poetry","issue-6871"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/env-greenfieldcc-dev.kinsta.cloud\/plum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1440","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/env-greenfieldcc-dev.kinsta.cloud\/plum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/env-greenfieldcc-dev.kinsta.cloud\/plum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/env-greenfieldcc-dev.kinsta.cloud\/plum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/158"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/env-greenfieldcc-dev.kinsta.cloud\/plum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1440"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/env-greenfieldcc-dev.kinsta.cloud\/plum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1440\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/env-greenfieldcc-dev.kinsta.cloud\/plum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1441"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/env-greenfieldcc-dev.kinsta.cloud\/plum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1440"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/env-greenfieldcc-dev.kinsta.cloud\/plum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1440"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/env-greenfieldcc-dev.kinsta.cloud\/plum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1440"},{"taxonomy":"issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/env-greenfieldcc-dev.kinsta.cloud\/plum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue?post=1440"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nhe was
\nall she had\u2015
\nwould ever have.<\/p>\n
\nover this new way
\nin which he regarded her
\ndrove her to please<\/p>\n
\nin the confusing way
\nshe knew how<\/p>\n
\nher actions said yes
\nshe felt certain
\nshe meant to tell him
\nno.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"