Standing in the gym
In a misfit ball gown
With a wilted boutonniere
In a broken hand
That never healed right
Lights out,
click,
as people hurried past me
With their prom dates
Through the wide double doors
As they vanished to expectation
I revisited the site
Of where I learned how to
fence
years before
The art of avoiding attack
Where I constantly lost
to opponents who
Never looked like me
Until they removed their mask
But there weren’t many fans
At a dying sport
Where no one dies
And your fencing lamé
Slowly morphs
into a sweaty straightjacket
If you fight for too long
Until you’re stuck on
A piece of spearmint gum
You spit out earlier
While wearing high heels
Hoping to run in them
And everyone just remembers
Your head hung up
on an old fence post
In a misfit ball gown
With a wilted boutonniere
In a broken hand
That never healed right
Lights out,
click,
as people hurried past me
With their prom dates
Through the wide double doors
As they vanished to expectation
I revisited the site
Of where I learned how to
fence
years before
The art of avoiding attack
Where I constantly lost
to opponents who
Never looked like me
Until they removed their mask
But there weren’t many fans
At a dying sport
Where no one dies
And your fencing lamé
Slowly morphs
into a sweaty straightjacket
If you fight for too long
Until you’re stuck on
A piece of spearmint gum
You spit out earlier
While wearing high heels
Hoping to run in them
And everyone just remembers
Your head hung up
on an old fence post
