shot glass
title
Issue # 7 May 2012
"... brevity is the soul of wit ..."
- William Shakespeare

Kathy Nelson


 

At the Philadelphia Museum

I walk past the guard, into the crowd.
Sullen now, weary of rules, I've given up

explaining. She follows, barking at my heels,
"Ma'am! You cannot reenter the exhibit!"

Her voice climbs: "Turn around!"
I keep walking, wondering

if she'll call in back-up. I see myself
in handcuffs. A space opens in the crowd

and all the people turn from Frida Kahlo
to look at me, the culprit, and I bask,

naked in my criminal moment.
I bask in their gawping,

and I have never in my whole life
felt so free.