Mom and I watched
The Phil Donahue Show
on summer vacation. At fifteen
sometimes I didn’t get what
his guests were talking about —
like when an authoritative man
said don’t use words
like husband and wife. We should
call our lovers attaches.
I pictured band-aid lovers
attaching to us, or worse,
leeches that suck out our blood.
Oh my darling attache,
I imagined saying
to any numbers of crushes.
Eternal fidelity and soda crackers.
If I could be an attache,
Would I impress authoritative men?
Phil would hand me the mic
and I’d ask what was it like
to meet Bette Davis.
