Alise Versella
I Don’t Care to Be Pretty
I will never be the girl with the pretty mouth
For the girl with the pretty mouth is the girl
Who will eventually get slapped
Along the length of it
Who will grow ashamed
Of its curling corners
Because everyone will tell her to smile
Show teeth
Well here are my teeth and molars biting
And I do not have a sweet tongue
I am always just a little bit bothersome
My words and opinions
Grating like mosquitos
Sucking and draining
I will draw your blood
I will leave an impression
You might not like
But I will leave an impression
Like the indentations bodies make in the grass
Bloody and
Outlined by chalk
The entry mark
A blemish like acne on my skin
I refuse to cover up
Witness my ugly
My grime and filth
Like the sewers in the city
This is my humanity
The sick of me
You don’t deserve what thrives in this garden
If you cannot come to terms with worms
The maggots that will make a home
Of my rotting flesh
You don’t deserve my best
I don’t trade pleasantries with hypocrites
Misogynists
I am not the girl with the pretty mouth
My mouth is a dark cavern
Gaping like the hole Munch painted
A mirror to reflect your own vulgarity
So do not tell me
I don’t sound like a lady
What makes you think you sound like a man?
Alise Versella is the author of the collections Five Foot Voice (AuthorHouse, 2011), Onion Heart (AuthorHouse 2012), and A Few Wild Stanzas (XLIBRIS, 2014). She is a contributing writer for Rebelle Society, Sivana East. and Journey of the Heart.
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