Lady Fine Is for Sugar

My grandmother believed in it

delicate laugh perfectly pressed blouse

blouse not shirt and proper grammar

billowing it out

You are well, not fine. Fine is for sugar!

Shorthand typing secretarial position

with some florid-faced boss drew success

my mother stormed like rain

teen pregnancy loud laugh bellicose

swore freely in front of her children

i am the sky that could fall either way

Lady passé and enduring mythology

i feel some sorta way over Cardi B

precisely because she levitated up her stripper pole

like a fuckin’ phoenix against the stench

of respectability politics

like a motherfuckin’ phoenix through the ceiling

burning on the hydrogen of unwavering respect

bricks of dollar signs gain you

plush in the same country where abuela believed

you had to play the Lady game

Star-spangled fantasy

my mother knew the danger

the voice that can’t be heard

the suspect testimony of that pressed blouse

flesh-tone foundation obscures

black and blues

white peter pan collar

crossed ankles

the I’m well thank you.