Cinema of a Solitude Part II

 le film d'épouvante

At night we wait for the stars to scream.
Bask in the gray yearning of dishes,
lockets, faucets. There’s a crease in my
body rending. An ache of bees singing
in my breasts. Yesterday the hope fell
out the window again. Ascended and

descended the stairs. My defense
mechanisms meant to cover my shame
but my shame won’t be covered.
Daddy knows what he does to women,
hotel keys and red panties bouncing
off him and falling into the blue apron

of my dress. On bridges girls perch like
birds, hugging their boots and letting
their heads drop into the dark of their
arms. You always knew I was female,
dreaming of ditch water and riding
with the window down in the rain.