The Friday Poem: ‘Born Sexy Yesterday’ by Lily Holloway

26 Jan 2024
Culture
weirdscience.jpg

Kelly LeBrock in Weird Science (1985)

The Friday Poem returns with a new poem by Lily Holloway.

Born Sexy Yesterday

I your newborn android               fresh

eyes wide and sparkling with   pixels

my womanform                              gobsmacked

my mouth                                          so open

no memories                                   38DD

first thoughts formed: you! you again!

so kind                so ready to teach me

things like          this is how you zip up your jeans

and       the men in the television cannot hurt you

you say: I don’t know why girls won’t give me a chance

I reply: you are the best man I have ever known

selfless selfless you       teaching me why

it was wrong to emerge from the shower (no towel)

in front of your old frat brothers during the super bowl

you are so patient when I get confused

by the telephone           by anatomy

by words that have secret meanings like

snowflake          whipped          and    butterface

when you took me aside at your office party and said

stop laughing at greg’s jokes          you will give him

                                                                     the wrong idea

you were so thoughtful to consider his feelings

I would never want to trick anybody!

and when I asked:        what’s a kiss?

and you replied:            I can show you

I imagined what it would be like

to be born human         small and warm

and be cradled in your heavy arms

 

The Friday Poem is edited by Chris Tse. Submissions are currently closed.

Lily Holloway

Lily Holloway

Lily Holloway is a powerlifting enthusiast and third-year MFA candidate at Syracuse University. They are a 2024 winner of the Griffith Review Emerging Voices competition and placed second in the 2024 Black Warrior Review Poetry Competition. You can find their work published or forthcoming in various places including Black Warrior Review, Sundog Lit, Ōrongohau | Best New Zealand Poems, Peach Mag, and Hobart After Dark. Their chapbook was published in 2021 as a part of Auckland University Press' AUP New Poets 8. Find them on Twitter and Instagram @milfs4minecraft or through their website lilyholloway.co.nz.

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