Feminist Fashion Police Citizen’s Arrest
as the long escalator plunges down
through the glittery shopping-obsessed
Oil State airport/mall
I can’t help but read
the trim young woman’s back
in front of me over and over
spelled out in a block
of black and white sequins:
THINK LESS
trapped together for this moment
the stages of grief flash by
while both our hearts keep sinking lower
- DENIAL
maybe she doesn’t speak English
sees the text the way I see a Chinese tattoo
or the Arabic all around now
no more than an interesting pattern
of swoops and stops
utterly meaningless
maybe she’s no idea
what she’s broadcasting - ANGER
you are undermining everything
everyone’s done
dimming the future for everyone
idiot! - BARGAINING
maybe they’re mermaid sequins
stroke her back
and maybe the words transform, inspire
say love more
do more
feel more
maybe I’d agree - DEPRESSION
it’s not just her to blame
it’s the designer
the manufacturer
the marketing team
the model who wore it
the store owner who sold it
her parents
her friends
the men it was meant for
WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?
oh, yeah. right. they weren’t. - ACCEPTANCE
o young woman
on the DXB escalator
who I am so tempted to think less of
who I literally look down on
you are yet another manifestation
of divine intervention
the universe exercising its will
calling me to stay vigilant
reminding me
how much could still be lost
thank you for putting your provocative self
in my path
igniting my thinking
in the midst of an otherwise mindless moment
clutching the handrail
descending into materialism’s hell
