BAMBI EXPLAINS IT ALL- A Downtown L.A. Poem

by Alexis Rhone Fancher

When I ask about living in

pockets of squalor,

Bambi explains it, says

it’s a matter of stare

straight ahead, navigate

the gutters and don’t

wear any good jewelry.

I’ve seen her svelte self

on Spring Street, a

determined click clack of

four inch heels, both thumbs

texting. I’ve hailed her by

name from yards away.

Perfectly aloof. No reaction.

Both eyes glued to the screen.

When I ask about walking

her dog after midnight,

Bambi explains it, says

she feels safe at 3 am

(in a 2-block radius), says

people with dogs have

disposable income, tend

to stay put.

When I ask about living

with her gay best friend,

Bambi explains it, says

their devouring passion

goes beyond the sexual. But

still, he brings men home.

I’ve seen her stand lost

in her kitchen, when she

thinks no one’s looking,

seen the calm acceptance

in her eyes.

When I ask about singleness

in a cruel city,

Bambi explains it all,

says every ten years,

reinvent yourself.

Get a gay husband.

Stay lonely.

Buy a dog.

* * * * *

"Bambi Explains it All" was first published in Carbon Culture Review, 2014.

Alexis Rhone Fancher is the author of How I Lost My Virginity to Michael Cohen and other 

heart stab poems, (2014), State of Grace: The Joshua Elegies, (2015), and Enter Here (2017). 

She is published in The Best American Poetry 2016, Rattle, Slipstream, Hobart, Cleaver, The 

MacGuffin, Poetry East, Plume, Glass, and elsewhere. Her photographs are published 

worldwide, including the cover of Witness, Heyday, and Nerve Cowboy, and a spread in River 

Styx. A multiple Pushcart Prize and Best of The Net nominee, Alexis is poetry editor of Cultural 

Weekly. She lives in Los Angeles. Find out more at: www.alexisrhonefancher.com