Come Spend Summer in the Girl Cave by Sarah Carleton

Come Spend Summer in the Girl Cave

Plunk your pencils in vases,
hang kimonos on nails,
paint tired things glossy
coral and red. Let your secrets

swell like a rising sun
and repurpose your lies.
Bring scones, coffee;
whine and be messy--
throw capes on carpets;

leave rings on tables.
Wear dresses that drape and
poof in the wind--
like that sea-foam muumuu
your husband hates--

or wear nothing at all.
Get rid of your shoes
and lead with your toes;
settle in.
You’ll be camouflaged here

among the round pitchers,
floral blankets and nudes.
We’ll doodle dancers,
sort buttons, tear magazine
pictures, pose for each other
or just zone out and eat jam.

Sarah Carleton

Sarah Carleton writes, edits, plays the banjo and raises her son in Tampa, Florida. Her poems have appeared in Houseboat, Burning Word Literary Journal, Avatar Review, Poetry Quarterly, The Bijou Poetry Review, Off the Coast, Shark Reef, Wild Violet Magazine, The Binnacle, The Homestead Review, Cider Press Review and Nimrod. She also has work upcoming in Silver Birch and Chattahoochee Review.

This poem was written as part of the 20 Poem Challenge.