I direct the movie of myself,
angle the camera
to evoke restlessness.
In his passenger seat,
our heroine reclines awkwardly.
A puddle of stockings and skirt
slides off the dashboard.
From outside her body, she can observe
the decay of her desire.
*
At the door to my apartment
I find, on the mat (emblazoned
GO AWAY),
two envelopes. One's marked
Ambition Quiz. The other:
Embrace the Housedress.
I toss them back. Over
the threshold, the scene warms :
pleasure is a lounge, pinkly lit
all soft, no angles. Each furnishing
shaped like the perfect pill.
— Jill Khoury
Jill Khoury earned her master's of fine art from The Ohio State University. She teaches writing and literature in high school, university and enrichment environments. Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in numerous journals, including Arsenic Lobster, Copper Nickel, Inter|rupture, and Portland Review. She has also been anthologized in Women Write Resistance: Poets Resist Gender Violence. Her chapbook Borrowed Bodies was released from Pudding House Press. You can find her at jillkhoury.com. She lives in Squirrel Hill.
