by Paula Kjdrian

Tonight

 I am just another slut,

 only in white. 

A pandora’s box,

an attempt to see if

my purity is a hoax.

Tonight 

I will promise my eternity, 

my children, my body. 

He will promise his love to me

only if I meet what he expects of me. 

Tonight 

I will lay down with my loved one 

on a white cloth. 

A cloth I intend to paint red

–I must paint red. 

Tomorrow 

I will wake up a newlywed. 

My canvas will be exhibited 

to his Mom and Dad. 

My canvas.

 It will fill the house with apples and baklava. 

With art as marvelous,

we have too much to spend. 

The day after tomorrow and the day after that, 

morning and night

I will always wonder… 

Did my virginity ever save your dignity? 

If it did

I doubt that you had any.