Self Portrait with Sweet Red Wine by Mica Evans

I blot my lipstick in all
the wrong places like on the lining
of my goodwill purse my jacket
sleeve the window
on the back of the bus I sing
outloud in all the wrong
moments when it’s quiet
there are people there
is no one else but driver
man I get far
too invested in my love
life my fingernails my single
toe hair my manners
in lines at banks my gut
the way it hangs
the way it hangs
the way it hangs.

All my habits
are the worst of there
kind like picking nail polish scraping
teeth biting empty forks
masturbating feeling
ugly next to strangers touching
eyeballs after bus ride smoking
Cigarettes are good for not
eating and nothing else
matters when he sees me
when I call him from the station
I am standing smoking Nothing
makes me hungry like his
coconut cologne stained
seats warm breath brash
voice the way it hangs
the way it hangs

---

About the author:

Mica Evans is a recent graduate of Bennington College, where she studied Literature, Music, and Public Action. Mica is a recipient of the Academy of American Poets Prize and the Bennington Writing Fellowship, as well as a participant of the Skidmore Writer’s Institute, and The Home School. Her work has been published in Cleaver Magazine, *82 Review, SILO, and on Poets.org.