To A Female Ex-Coworker

You said I’d be sexy
if I wore my hair down
if I plucked my eyebrows
if I unbuttoned the top few buttons of my shirt.

I laugh at how much you’re missing,
at how completely you misunderstand me.

It is my mind, my heart,
my soul, my very essence that makes me sexy–
not any of those things.

(written spring 2019)