Day Twenty-Seven: Short Dresses

YES, IT SELLS


“Why don't you show off
your body more?” my boyfriends asked me
when I was young, and wore
baggy hippie dresses that fell past my knees
with heavy, high-necked sweaters.
A roommate said,
“You should apply at Playboy.
All you have to do is wear a bathing suit
with bunny ears and a tail,
and you'd make a thousand bucks a week,
those girls are all rich.”
I didn't make enough money
for my hundred dollar rent, and struggled
at terrible retail jobs and fourth rate restaurants
rather than show my breasts and legs
to drunken businessmen looking to cop a feel.
If I had it to do all over again,
I think I'd let them--
in fact, I'd sit directly in their laps,
and say,
“That will be two hundred dollars.
Cash or check?”