Women Wonder
Because my life of secrets spilled
onto a slideshow and little girls
that watched the movie version cried.
Because they invented an American lie
detector test that telegraphed
our sex tips, beauty tips, health tips,
wedding tips, birth tips, death tips.
Because what did you expect
if not the untold story finally real,
the strange and stranger no longer obscure.
Because bad news boosts ratings.
Because we’re all lined up with nowhere to go.
Because there is limited time only
for a limited time only. Because my eyes
are windows and my face is a wall.
I am no expert. Let me have
acceptance over grace. Let me offer
no offense as I set fire to the screen.
Ashley Farmer is the author of Beside Myself (Tiny Hardcore Press, 2014), The Farmacist (Jellyfish Highway Press, 2015), and The Women (Civil Coping Mechanisms, 2016). Her work can be found in or forthcoming from places like The Progressive, Flaunt Magazine, Santa Monica Review, and Gigantic. An editor for Juked, she lives and works in Louisville, KY.
*Photo courtesy of chashama Inc..
