This May Not Be Interesting, But It's All True

1968 Spiegel Catalogue

it’s bare-armed to keep you cool
all summer long
bow and streamers in back
state size

The mom looks at the daughter looks

at the sister whose skirt comes just above the knees.

The mother looks at the daughter looks

at the dress and sees the flat curve where

breasts should be, at the flounce at the hip

where hips should be. Later that evening,

after the roast and the potatoes are scraped into the

trash, she will unpin her hair.

She will sit on their bed and kick off her white heels.

Hair unpinned she removes her dress, showered

with stay-in pleats, and picks up from the floor

her daughter’s dress, garden-full of flowers on a float

and slips it over her head. Shivers before the mirror

bare-armed, hand washable, her breasts push outward

her hips almost visible against the celanese,

fortel, polyester and avril rayon blend.

She swatches her bare thighs back

and forth, and closes her eyes a little.

It’s just a dance in this moment, it’s just a foil for the roast

and potatoes, it’s just a jackknife hammered into her heart.