Girlie-Girl Power

An electric drill with a cord that disappears off the right edge of the page. Below the drill is an abstract painting in a frame. The color is splattered and scribbled.

Crystal and I bring out each other’s

feisty independence

and creativity as we renovate

our basement space together.

We wield power tools,

lay remnant carpet

spackle designs to mask

crumbling drywall and uneven seams.

Laughing,

we splatter paint

with abandon that would cause

Jackson Pollock to die again.

We pick out cute boys in bars

like candy,

but never give out our number,

just collect theirs,

stuff matchbooks

and colored slips

of uneven paper into

our ‘guy jar’ fishbowl.

Crystal decides

we should smoke less.

Resolves

we will start SlimFast.

Teaches me

to never put my purse

on the aisle-side of the train

to always

be aware of my surroundings

to carry mace just in case.

Better to have it and not need it

than need it and not have it.

A piece of wrinkled torn paper with a side view of an LA Gear sneaker drawn on it.

Crystal reorganizes

my modeling book

shows it to a photographer friend

who suggests I cut my hair to stand out

but no way! short hair would only make

my ass look bigger.

Crystal edits and deletes

my wardrobe

makes me a bit less

white-trash-in-the-city.

Insists I lose my

favorite white fringe boots

splurge

on Levis that fit.

Informs me that

“Wearing black is always best.”

Clueless

I never realized

how much work I needed

before Crystal

started remodeling me.

A publication cover that says, ‘do it yourself with Arrow.’ Construction tools including a caulk gun and a staple gun are beneath the title. Below the cover are three drawn headshots in a row. They are of the same person making the same pose with different facial expressions. Their left arm is not visible due to vertical lines separating the images. Their right arm is raised with their hand behind their head. Their hair has straight-across bangs and falls past their shoulders in curls. The expression in the left image has raised eyebrows and pursed lips. The second expression is a smile showing two front teeth. The third expression is looking off to the right with raised eyebrows and downturned lips. They wear a tank top and a thick bracelet on their wrist in all three images. Below the headshots is a person’s face and shoulders. They have slightly wavy hair that falls past their left shoulder and wear an off-the-shoulder garment. Their eyes and lips are prominent facial features. They have a flat-lipped expression. Below the face is a staple gun.