Melody Wilson

Resting Bitch Face

To a younger woman being mansplained
in the museum after viewing Alfredo Arreguin’s
The Magic Shawl

What isn’t an eye        when breasts

are       painted deserts?

Dissolve          to background.

You only                     imagine yourself

solid       matter.

Pretend you speak

seahorse.

Don’t smile.    Don’t

tilt                    your eyes

in surprise       no need to                   shatter                   

his                   Diego Rivera.

We worked so hard                 to knit

the shards                                together.

                        Let him               pointillism,

                        abstract expressionism.          It’s a long, long way

            from here                    to your knees.

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Melody Wilson’s work appears in Sugar House Review, VerseDaily, Tar River Review and Crab Creek Review. Upcoming work is in Kestrel and Pangyrus. She received 2022 Pushcart nominations from Redactions and Red Rock Review. She was also semi-finalist for the Pablo Neruda Award. She is pursuing her MFA at Pacific University. Find more of her work at melodywilson.com.