How much more uncomfortable she feels
Outside the well known confines of her room,
Where she’d first put them on, first wriggled
And rolled her hips in ways too obscene
To mention, until the fabric finally
Held her curves in a shrink-wrapped embrace.
She felt feminine, erotic;
Fifteen and ready to be a woman.
Now, at the dingy corner store,
She feels the eyes of the cashier
Lick her skin from foot to thigh,
Linger on her tightly bound breasts,
And, finally, slide up to her comprehending eyes.
Repulsion knots her stomach.
Then a tingling slackens it.
A slight smile escapes the edges of her mouth.
The feeling foments into a thought.
–Written by Marcos Amen