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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 Hough

COLEMAN HOUGH is a poet and playwright. She wrote the screenplay for Full Frontal, released by Miramax, and directed by Steven Soderbergh.

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The Brooklyn Rail

MARCH-APRIL 2002

All Issues