itsy and bitsy
 
we ran down avenue c
laughing
we wore nightgowns
from mays department store
spaghetti straps
long and silky      
mine was black
yours had tiny roses
 
you always had to pee
i was mean
made hissing sounds
you lifted your little flowers
squatted behind garbage cans
we skipped over blood shit piss
ran away laughing
 
your feet always hurt
you said they were too small
your body blossomed around you
disappearing into size 6 heels
mine curved around me
moved with a mind of its own
nobody bothered the crazy girls
laughing down avenue c
in cheap elegant nightgowns
 
earl named us itsy and bitsy
we never remembered
which was which
i think i was bitsy
cause you were bigger
you got mad at me
for getting pregnant
spitting in the street
leaving you
 
a little later i left myself
smiles lay crumbled
souls died each morning
on the same streets where
we ran in nightgowns
itsy and bitsy
laughing dancing sisters
running down avenue c
 
puma perl, 2007

BIO

Puma Perl is a poet and writer who believes strongly in the transformative power of the creative arts.   Her work has been published in Cause & Effect, The Mom Egg, Brain Box, and other journals and she has been a featured reader in various New York City venues.  She is currently at work on her first book, which will be a series of linked poems based on lower east side life in the 1970” and 80’s.

my friends are dancing girls
 
my friends are dancing girls
salseras
short skirts
strong calves
they dance with their souls
their children dance
in their wombs
their blood pumps
rhythm
 
i dance a little
i hear the sounds
my dancing girls
feel
i watch
my dancing girls spin
i sit
on junior high school benches
playing
with the boys
 
puma perl,  2007