Definition

Listen,
I need to tell you something....

Pink is not my signature color.
There is not one single pair of heels
in my closet,
and I do not care
if my purse matches my shoes.


My nails are not manicured or polished.
But these hands are strong and dextrous;
they know how to do many things:
hold a pen, a knife, a needle, a hilt,
coax life from somnolent keyboards,
transfix rainbows in glass,
soothe hurts large and small,
craft pottery ravens,
gesture disdain both politely and otherwise,
rescue kittens, building-bound birds, and cicadas,
focus a lens to capture a moment,
fry the best damn fried chicken you'll ever taste,
hold on tightly when the world goes to hell.

I don't harbor dreams of
of a magic prince who sweeps in
and carries me away
the cathedral length train,
the cloying smell of lilies and roses.

Instead I want the rhinestone benediction
the full glory of a chapel Elvis
and a partner-in-crime
driving away together with me
into the darkness of a Las Vegas night
into the rest of our lives.