Rikki Santer
Primer for a Press Conference Wardrobe
Consonant for arrogance
be a credit to your cape.
Who will lick the sores
of your Achilles heels,
a skinhead’s 18-hole boot
shorthand for aggression.
Whether patriotic ties
like petrified lava
or scarfed bucketfuls
of Matisse, laden
your muddy soles
with mission, 26 bones
for 270 million steps.
Freeze dry inside those
capsule suits a tardy
recognition. Dominate
the room like a glitter
gown, firecrackers round
your pointing fingers, kitten
heels to kick the hungry cats.
Rikki Santer is the author of Drop Draw (NightBallet Press, 2020), In Pearl Broth (Stubborn Mule Press, 2019), and six previous poetry collections. Her work has appeared in Ms. Magazine, Poetry East, Slab, Crab Orchard Review, RHINO, Grimm, Hotel Amerika and The Main Street Rag.
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