Gallery Girl
a little girl says
“i like this one
& the girl one”
as if there aren’t tons of girls here
on the walls
doubled over in agony
hand in fog-blurred hand
faces obscured by words
pallid as ghosts among the palms
girls cradling scrawny creatures
flowers at their feet
daydreaming, hollow faces like kodama
parasols their only anchor to the earth
eyes off-kilter, unbalanced
like a boat before it’s fully sunk
perched like mountain lions, ready to take
their meal
some are nothing
but the suggestion of a body
body like a stain on linen
hands tensed in anguish
body like a poet’s
body, eyes like an owl’s
but the little girl says
“i like the girl one”
like everyone in the gallery knows
which girl she’s talking about
& i think everyone does.