Starter Kit Drag Queen
By Shane Allison
Sassy left one of her dresses in my car again.
Always happens when she's had too many vodka red bulls.
Carl cut her off,
Told the bartenders she isn't to be served alcohol
Until she's done hosting the show.
Sassy stumbles and slurs her words on stage.
When I notice make-up smudges on my upholstery,
Sequins in the passenger seat, who else could it be?
I take her dress, her wigs and gaudy fake jewelry
From the backseat, and slip it into the house,
Lie it all on the bed like a piece of trade I've picked up from the bar.
I take a few drinks from leftover bottled water
To flush out the shots and well booze.
I'm not as drunk as Sassy tonight.
I hold up the cotton polyester blend
With its yellow ruffled sleeves that are reminiscent of arm floats.
The jewelry and sandy blond wig is a tangled mess.
I pull down the zipper pushing one leg in and then the other.
Sassy can't hurt me.
There are things worse than her out here in the sticks.
The cotton polyester is soft against my butt and back.
I hook the yellow ruffled arm floats over round shoulders,
Laughing at the look of this dress on me.
A veil of silk shades patches of chest hair.
I gently place the ratty wig on my head,
Adjusting it accordingly over my ears.
I finger-comb it out a bit. Yeah, that's it.
All I need now are the heels
I saw her carrying in her hand
As she stumbled toward the door of the trailer
She shares with her mother and brothers
Who don't approve of her kind of entertainment.
I pull out my phone to take a few shots,
Posing in poses to post on Facebook
And tag to mutual friends
Where Sassy will surely see them
Once the hangover has worn off.
Shane Allison was bit by the writing bug at the age of fourteen. He spent a majority of his high school life shying away in the library behind desk cubicles writing bad love poems about boys he had crushes on. He has since gone on to publish five collections of poetry – with Turbulent (Hysterical Books) being his most recent – and his book length poem, Remembered Men (Ranger Press). Shane’s collage work has graced the pages of Noisy Rain, Shampoo, Unlikely Stories, Pnpplzine.com, Palavar Arts Magazine, the Southeast Review, Postscript and a plethora of others. Allison is at work on a new novel, new poetry and is always at work making a collages and painting.
