Alice G. Waldert

Undressed

Preening
before the mirror,
down to my underpants
and training bra
with its white flowers,
my long-stemmed
legs
give me height.
My mother
tries on
the eyes of a man.
She leers and says,
Men will want you.
I shudder
at her reflection,
goosebumps appear.
In seconds
I’m reduced
from a young Venus
to a naked chicken,
cellophane wrapped
in the fridge
of a local grocery store.

Alice G. Waldert is a poet, creative nonfiction/fiction writer, and visual artist. Her poetry has appeared in Arc Poetry Magazine, Misfit Magazine, Prometheus Dreaming, and other literary journals and has work forthcoming in the Evening Street Review. She is currently working on a full-length collection of poetry titled Surviving the Survivors.