Clubs
A List
People who have seen you naked.
People who know your face, but not your name.
Those connected to your tangible body,
but with little knowledge of your life.
They alter your skirts, know the shape of
your waist, the distance between your hip
and the floor. They trim your bangs every month,
know the weight of your hair, how it falls.
Those who have put holes in you,
adorned with metal.
People who immediately place you
under stress by their authority. Driving instructors,
the cop knocking on your window,
the immigration officer.
Those who dream of you,
with or without intensity.
Neighbors who were granted access
into your habits, your reactions.
People who have photographs
with you in the background,
as scenery.
Yowza! Talk about a provocative topic! Love love this. I get nervous a little bit about being in a stranger's line of sight when I see said stranger taking a picture (a tourist, for example), and I always try to turn my head or run out of frame. No reason for the nervousness, really—perhaps I was 'wanted' in a former life.
ReplyDeleteThe details in this poem are...uncanny, spectacular. You slay me with your observation skillz!
ReplyDeleteEspecially this:
"People who have photographs
with you in the background,
as scenery."
That has always bothered me. Makes me want to become agoraphobic.