for Tara

"I think sex is overrated." --Audrey Hepburn

Does a girl really choose it,

even after she becomes a bleeder? 

Why does she lose it,

after that first drilling? 

And how can she know for sure

that she was willing?

If she hisses on a hot bed of kisses,

and he pries her legs apart,

why will she remember it

as if he gave her his heart?

Does the fear of innocence shine

on her face like a yield sign?

Is she an invitation

waiting to be mailed? 

Perhaps this world is an anvil,

and she is just a horseshoe

to be heated up,

hammered out,

and nailed.

What is it? 

Why is it like death

to lose it down by the river

in the back seat of a car?

Maybe it's that she can never

get it back--it's not like

a knife wound that heals smooth

even if it leaves a scar.