They would hock loogies and have contests to see
who could hold the longest belch
They would fart
when it was particularly stinky they would high five each other
and say “good one”!

But us girls, you know
We weren’t supposed to spit or burp
And especially not let anyone know that we bled

We learned to straighten our curls and gloss our hair
Smooth out our skin, cover our blemishes
Perfume our stink

It takes a tremendous amount of time
and life energy to do this
To sanitize the animal

Polished beauty has a half-life of about 6 hours
12 hours in, and you’re hanging again
24 and your own natural musk from pussy and armpit has returned

If I could have those hours back
That were spent trying
To not be a dirty little piggy
To not be a bear in the woods
To not be a mountain lion
To not be
a boy

If I could have those hours back
I would make shit
I would fly planes
I would dig beautiful ponds
Where koi might swim
I would build houses mostly of glass where the beams are nano steel and the structures look light as air

If I could have those hours back
I would make shit
I would orgasm without restraint
I would climb
I would spit
I would make shit
I would bleed
You would know my by my smell
The overpowering musk of woman