darling: poems by colleen cosette goodman

i ask saint raphael to lead me

Oh how I wish to be in love again! Adorn my body with swooping
black dresses,
make myself up to nines,
Pine longingly but lovelily,
and blend soft foundation
into my dead skin.
I will think of them always,
devote myself to varying degrees:

1. Exfoliate the dead for them to love me in the pinkest and newest of baby skin.
2. Gloss my lips so they hang like slugs on my face, pleading to kiss and please.
3. Dye my hair bright blonde, so once again I glow like a halo, an angel who is always ready for love's soft embrace.

My old self is tainted.
She thinks only of depression
and gray and
prays for her old friends.
Let me fall into the arms of another! Let us hope he is tall and curly-haired, and he will love me like no other.