Refract

"Miror, Mirror", Carrie Mae Weems

Talkin' To The Mirror
by Kate Hymes

"what the mirror said"
Lucille Clifton

He better believe
he got his hands on
some damn body-
not just some body
used for his pleasure,
fuck then move on.

More to this body
than round, brown mounds
squeezed in the dark,
than hard nipples suckled,
than the creamy, juicy place
between its legs

In the morning this body
get itself up from
sex-stained sheets,
wakes the babies,
washes sleep encrusted faces,
wipes butt cracks,
changes pissy diapers,
cooks milk, honey, and cereal,
feeds new day hunger.
All this
before it even looks
in the mirror at
itself.

This body pushes
one baby in a stroller,
holds tight the fidgety
hand of the terrible two;
slung across the opposite
shoulder hangs
baby bag
book bag
lunch bag
purse.

Five minutes to board
the downtown bus and
no body offers to help.
No damn body.

From Cave Canem's 2001 Anthology