I figured I'd Google a couple of words and see what I got. I've never read any of this woman's poetry but I liked this one. There's a link to other poems she has published, if you wish to discover a new voice.
*language warning*
There's a word in this poem you might not want to read aloud to those you're trying to teach to not use, er, certain words.
Red Shoes
They weren't ruby slippers
dancing shoes, no magic
in their stiff t-strap styling
no matter how my mother tried
to trick me into fairy tale believing
they were red shoes no angels
wanna wear, not on a bet, not
on a dare, not even to save a soul
they were
fugly
totally bugfuck butt-ugly
creaky clunky stuck to my feet
eight hours a day five days a week
under the approving nods of
I swear
seventy three nuns who held the
keys to my
not quite heaven but
damned close future self
and i was such a good girl
the smart one, just a little
chubby with such a pretty
face, just a little frizz to curls
that defied braids and rubber bands
that flat out refused to lie flat and
do the long and silky thing, that
screamed Shirley Temple in a
Marcia Brady world. i was
the one who sat in the corner with
two desks between my test paper
and everyone else's eyes, already
singled out as the one who
always knew the answer
never did the crime
and i was six and all i wanted was for once
to break a rule without surprising everyone
all i wanted was to trade
my red shoes for
Mary Lou McColgan's black
patent leather
Mary Janes.
by chameleon
Thanks to got poetry?
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