Sonnet (full-court press)
having studied swarthmore charts and mirrors,
fashion magazines, foucault, bloom, bad light,
whereof—hereof—had not become clearer;
what vision to present as first self-sight.
self quit; put on boots and a see-through dress,
some thought it was ironic "self-object-
ification", said they were not impressed.
some guessed that "honesty" was self's subject,
were put off nonetheless, self-asked: to sleep
with me? who would? self flat, self one inch deep,
self-glimpsed not much in that giant mirror:
innocence -credulity, self doth protest!
hey! presumptuous interlocutor!
pissed off, thwarted, played, and soon, undressed!
Copyright Credit: Olena Kalytiak Davis, "Sonnet (full-court press)" from The Poem She Didn’t Write and Other Poems. Copyright © 2014 by Olena Kalytiak Davis. Reprinted by permission of Copper Canyon Press, www.coppercanyonpress.org.