MODERN PROSTITUTES RESPOND TO DELACROIX’S
WOMEN IN ALGIERS IN THEIR APARTMENT
by Kim Baker
We want to be them, kept
in a crib where even the black girl
is frontin’ and maxin’ in bling, in rainbows,
her ass so fine, but her sistas don’t notice—
the hookah, the fucked up of too much stuff—
they don’t need Food Stamps and Rite Care
cuz I don’t see no kids there, no pimp
scratchin’ sass and WTF in their ears
all day, those rugs got no bugs big
as a fist he swung in your face, no bruises,
no neighbors complainin’ about gangstas
(but it’s the losers with the mommy complex
that scare the ever lovin’ shit outta us)
no social worker jerkin’ them about the clap,
no DAR hard core they deserve what they get,
no state reps goin’ Rambo when the new
guy says we oughta legalize prostitution
as if putting food on your baby’s plate any way
you can should require an act of Congress,
no HIV disease, as if losin’ your immune system
and having to rest all day dressed in linen in silk
like a queen smokin’ the local weed in a pretty place
they call a brothel would be so god damned bad.
Gyroscope Review - page 28
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