Rachel B. Glaser

Teenage girls hot for the Eiffel Tower

teenage girls hot for the Eiffel Tower
frame old French illustrations of cats
endure the death smell of nail polish and hair spray
and create a self-religion in the shower
they only excel at field hockey
if they pretend they are fighting for France
their postcard idea of France
their ruffled dream of sex
these girls use the little lock on their doors
though their parents never bother them
though no boys ever call on the phone
they want to have the longest hair of anyone at school
but Therese will always have the longest hair
they have this idea of what wine will taste like
but the taste is really more like pralines
they want a boy to watch them cry
they want a hand mirror to examine their sex parts
they want a man to cross the coffee shop where they sit
and ask them what they’re writing