by Stephanie Silvia
I wear black boots today
and a black skirt
Black tights (for the lymphodema)
I’ve slept in this tee shirt and
bra for three nights now
switching into different
oversweaters
each morning
it’s cold in the house
(afraid to let my nipples
taste the cold air)
afraid to buy bigger jeans
I wear boots today
and a loose black skirt
(my jeans are too tight)
what will happen if I let my
breasts indulge in the
breast sensation of
breast/skin/taste/touch/
cold air
what will happen if I wear looser jeans
get naked in the
morning
get naked at night
will I be hungry
in between my lymphnodeless thighs
take off my tight jeans forever
sleep without underwire
your lips locked
on my newly
guarded places
Stephanie Silvia was born in Brooklyn, where she taught public school after years of directing Stephanie Silvia: NORTH/SOUTH Dance, a modern dance company in New York City. She received an MFA from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and attended school in Boston and San Francisco. Her poetry, reviews and articles have been published in the Northcoast Journal (Eureka, CA), College of the Redwoods Writers and Poets, The Cherry Blossom Review, elephant, and in the anthology, Women.Period. (Spinster’s Ink Press). Stephanie is a student of Diane di Prima and member of Amazon Writers of the Humboldt County Breast Health Project.
