Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THE RED TURTLENECK by KAREN SWENSON

First Line: I STAND FOR APPROVAL
Last Line: AS I WEAR IT INTO MY SCENT.
Subject(s): BEAUTY; FASHION; SAND, GEORGE (1804-1876); SEDUCTION; WOMEN; DUPIN, AMANDA. BARONNE DUDEVANT;

@3Did she put on his knowledge with his power...?@1
W.B. Yeats

I stand for approval
in my new cashmere cat-fur dress.
A woman friend nods a blessing and says,
"But the bow at the neck must be softer,
like this,
so they will know one tug undoes all."
I turn to our reflections
and recognize the tie of seduction.

But there is another kind of dressing -
George Sand, licensed by borrowed trousers,
opens her stride beyond the hem of her sex.

I pull your red turtleneck down my body,
heating your male odor from the fabric,
which hugs me ribbing to rib.

Whether I put on your knowledge
with the power of your costume
or I realize my knowledge
maled in the appearance of your power,
the core of my womanhood
struts rib to rib in this pullover
as I wear it into my scent.



Home: PoetryExplorer.net