Mulberry Street Branch by Puma Pearl

​My dress fell off my shoulders in horror
I thought you were younger, it said
and fell to the floor onto a pile of books
I’ll for a more deserving body, it sneered
with smoother knees and perkier elbows

I print my poems in public libraries
My favorite is the Mulberry branch with
its sub-basement and cool brick walls
handsome dredlocked men
young serious librarians with cool glasses
who dance with Marlon Brando at midnight
rows of my favorite children books
where the wild things are
madeline and the bad hat
immigrant pint-sized heroes emerge
madlenka and her dog
chunkit and his parrot

I step over my dress when I get home
You should have your own printer it says
You wander the streets like an aging urchin
Wear your black jeans and boots every day
I don’t care if it’s ninety two degrees
Dresses like me – they are not for you