Me, my many selves
Those women, we say
The ones with fat hips
Dresses falling off their shoulders
Windblown hair
Sloppily applied makeup
A glitter in their eye
Those you can kill-destroy-embarrass-rape
Those you can impregnate without consequences
Those you can describe on locker-room walls
The poor ones
The ones with different features
Different hair
Who worry about paying rent
Who wear glitter in the daytime
The ones who jiggle when they walk
Whose boots go-go
Whose teeth shine in the night
The ones who want you to pay for dinner
You know the ones
The ones who got drunk and lost their friends
Didn’t say no loudly enough
Flirted, kissed, started, and did not finish
Called you handsome
Ate with crumbs
Danced with too many partners
Whose fathers didn’t care
Rode the bus, the subway, walked on the sidewalk
Those you can touch, they won’t mind
No one will listen to them
The ones who swayed their hips too far
Didn’t have a boyfriend
Made a coarse joke
Were not feminine enough
Painted nails, lips, the drinking straws of mojitos
Pop-rock lickers
Who looked at other women with appreciation
Who lust at life
Who love when they want to, as if it was up to them
Those women had it coming
They knew better and did it anyway
Spread their legs wide when they sat
Stayed too late at work
Ate with their mouth open
Thought they were better than you
Cried too much then
Interrupted you when you were speaking
Bested you a time too many
Whose makeup dripped below their eyes
Those women
Me, my many selves
Those women are also…
Me