Our Sister Who Art in Texas
Our sister who art in Texas
smokes cigarettes all day.
She’s got a buspass, a stereo system
and a biker boyfriend
wit long, stringy hair
who calls her from cheap motels
where he spends most of his nights.
She dreams of seeing Barbados,
of losing weight, of finally talking
to someone who will listen
and tell her exactly why
her man isn’t satisfied.
Although her parents visit often,
they despise her because
they can’t deal with the fact
she dropped out of school at sixteen
just like they did.
They worry about her sanity.
She always eats alone,
choosing rice cakes and
over ripe fruit – anything low calorie
and bland like her mother’s beige
curtains that are creamy like
the complexions of the women
her boyfriend sleeps with.
He sometimes brings them home for dinner,
always introduced as co-workers.