Local
My Vagina Says Hey
My vagina says “hey”
My vagina
“hey”
like a hey that gives me hope
hello?
“hey”
it comes
quick as that
soft
“hey”
insistent
“hey”
like listen there’s more
there’s more listen
“hey”
my vagina
like an uneven heart
ready
for the unexpected guest at 3 am
“hey”
hello?
and I look in every mirror
checking lips
wondering if they’re too dry
too chapped
somewhere a stain
some clutter that could fall out
embarrass me
“hey!”
oh
“hey!”
shhhhhhhhh
hope not and he
is remembering by now the last time
we did this in secret
wondering if he will
stay longer this time
“hey”
not now
“hey”
oh god
“hey”
like an endless purple haze
or walking down a hallway that
looks long from drugs
you are leaning away from
“hey”
I remember the Beethoven
you will play the Beethoven
she said it
such authority in her voice
no lovers even
though she had been married long ago
mother said
that it was better
to have loved and lost
than to have never
loved at all
rides home
in her VW Bug
I would fill up
with grateful smiles and run
the rest of the driveway hopeful that I would quit piano
someday and have one great love
“hey”
not that, I know
“hey”
something else, and then
“hey”
like I am ready
oh
like I have a badge
recognize me now.
hey
my vagina says hey.
Contributor
Coleman HoughCOLEMAN HOUGH is a poet and playwright. She wrote the screenplay for Full Frontal, released by Miramax, and directed by Steven Soderbergh.
RECOMMENDED ARTICLES

No W here: Alice Hope, Bastienne Schmidt, Toni Ross
By Amanda GluibizziJUL-AUG 2021 | ArtSeen
As they were planning their joint exhibition at Ricco/Maresca, Alice Hope, Bastienne Schmidt, and Toni Ross agreed to choose an evocative object from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art that would serve as an organizing principle for each artists portion of the show. To their surprise, all of them chose the same piece.

Mark Bradford with Katy Siegel
JUNE 2023 | Art
There is a sense of mutual trust and affinity when Katy Siegel and Mark Bradford are in conversation, as they have been for more than a dozen years. On the occasion of Bradfords current exhibition at Hauser & Wirth, New York, Siegel joined the artist at the gallery shortly after the installation was complete. In this conversation they discuss the evolution of Bradfords latest body of work, how he maneuvered through COVID closures, and what it means to imbue works of art with hope and faith.
Hope after Tragedy
By Noa WeissDEC 22–JAN 23 | Dance
Vanessa Anspaughs mourning after mornings offers a sprawl of unruly movement and intergenerational tenderness at New York Live Arts.
Angela China: Girl on the Grass
By Jessica HolmesMAY 2023 | ArtSeen
As frosty air and bleak clouds give way to warmth and color the sense of renewal inherent to blooming tulips and budding leaves becomes palpable. And so it is witnessing the debut exhibition of a young artist full of promisehope also blossoms. Girl on the Grass, a solo show of ten paintings by New York-based artist Angela China arouses a similar, buoyant expectation.