DIY Denim Jacket

by Karen Breen

You don’t need to be gentle.

It’ll fall apart anyway.

Even now, pieces come off in your hands.

I want them to.

It’ll give what’s underneath some character.

There’s a line -

“she could dance all night and shake the paint off the wall.”

I’ve never seen you dance,

but that’s okay.

You don’t look like you’d want to.

I like owls,

but you don’t see me wearing orange-print shirts.

We can live by our just-metaphors and call them costumey.

We can know what’s under there

without chipping off the top layer.

So I’m glad you’re gentle anyway.

* * * * *

Karen Breen is a poet based in Okinawa, Japan. Her work has been featured in Granola and Hedge Apple and is forthcoming in Ethel Zine and Children, Churches, and Daddies. She is also the winner of the 2018 Laura A. Rice Poetry Prize.