my lingerie I’d accidentally sent her a photo
of myself in the new black cling-wrap
meant for my lover my thumbs go loose
after 2 a.m. so I typed m instead of g
Freudian slip though maybe seeking
my mother’s approval of my barest while
decorated form the appeal of opposites
soft skin, rough fish net lace
buttoned up the back of my neck one two
three high cut on the hips too one cut out
between my breasts I could see her face
even though it was a text her eyes crazed
as they’d been when she caught me
pink-faced with the Victoria’s Secret catalogue
at age nine marking all the lingerie I wanted
for my one-day trousseau she told me
it was all provocative trash that real
women’s bodies didn’t look like that yet
here was her daughter looking like that
this is repulsive she said
don’t ever do it again
&
Jessica Lee’s poems have been published in The New Yorker, Missouri Review, The Journal, Prairie Schooner, Tupelo Quarterly, and elsewhere. She is currently an Assistant Poetry Editor for the Nashville Review and an MFA candidate at Vanderbilt University. Find her online at readjessicalee.com
“While Trying to Meditate” is featured in TLR: Granary.