Lady In Red

"What Do Women Want?" ~ Kim Addonizio

I want a red dress.
I want it flimsy and cheap,
I want it too tight, I want to wear it
until someone tears it off me.
I want it sleeveless and backless,
this dress, so no one has to guess
what's underneath. I want to walk down
the street past Thrifty's and the hardware store
with all those keys glittering in the window,
past Mr. and Mrs. Wong selling day-old
donuts in their café, past the Guerra brothers
slinging pigs from the truck and onto the dolly,
hoisting the slick snouts over their shoulders.
I want to walk like I'm the only
woman on earth and I can have my pick.
I want that red dress bad.
I want it to confirm
your worst fears about me,
to show you how little I care about you
or anything except what
I want. When I find it, I'll pull that garment
from its hanger like I'm choosing a body
to carry me into this world, through
the birth-cries and the love-cries too,
and I'll wear it like bones, like skin,
it'll be the goddamned
dress they bury me in.

I chose to start this blog with this poem because I want to be the woman in that red dress. I want to live the rest of my life with RECKLESS abandon! Too long have I lived as the quiet, patient, oh so very careful, girl next door. I will trade my comic books and World of Warcraft subscription for that red dress! 2009 will be the year of the Femme Fatal!

...okay, I was only kidding about giving up the comic books and WoW, but that can be our little secret.