by Angela Brommel

Lap Dance

Vegas taught me how to lap dance
my rage, how to take that atomic bomb
and give it to the world. The knee trick.
The hair flip. The you-can’t-do-anything-
more-than-buy-me-drinks-look. The beautiful
and ugly space of desire is four miles long.
Just the good smell of vanilla and xanadu
rolls through the air. But god
how I love the neon lights. No more
restless nights with no one else awake. Vegas gives
you color after so many drab winters.
Cold and empty is the worst way to go.
Plutonium or Platinum blonde.

Tending the Yard

I didn’t choose the Plum trees.
That first year they didn’t have the sense
to not bear fruit. We didn’t have the sense to feel blessed.

How we picked each plum
prematurely in hope of
keeping everything in order according to plan.

Such attention to detail. It must be
baby proof and pet proof. It must be
safe. It must not be more

than we can handle. I thought
the new yard would change us. It would give
us a hobby. Lead to a backyard wedding.

When the landscapers finished,
the dry riverbed looked like the Immaculate Heart.
It was the envy of the neighbors.

Wonder Woman at the Grocery Store

Last night, in the last aisle
trapped between the unbleached
recycled toilet paper and the quilted,
bleached, twice as thick,
I waivered back and forth
imagining my eco-chicness then imagining
the actual texture of recycled toilet paper
for at least 15 minutes,
when I saw Wonder Woman.

Not even pretending to be Diana Prince,
she was pushing a cart through household goods at Smith’s.
I wondered if she ever wakes up and thinks,
Today is not a good day to face the world in hot pants.
But last night she must have thought:
I save the world and I do my own shopping.
I watched her reading labels.
I wondered if Steve ever did the shopping. I wondered
if Superman ever did the shopping. But most of all I wondered
what’s so wonderful about being Wonder Woman.

Angela Brommel is a Nevada writer with Iowa roots. Her poetry can be found at Sweet: A Literary Confection and Writers at Work. She currently teaches Women’s Studies and Humanities at Nevada State College.