Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, “femmes are film stars”
Author: Poetry Editor
June 13, 2012
From this year’s winner of the Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Poetry, Love Cake by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha (TSAR Publications).
femmes are film stars
Femmes are film stars
in the movies of our lives
Instead of dishwater we choose danger
grab belt buckles, smooth lip gloss
and make eye contact
we put Bollywood to shame
we’re the stars of our own danger-filled whirlwind
there are dramatic plot twists and more edge-of-the-seat
moments
than you can believe
and suspension of disbelief?
girl, you know we suspend disbelief
do shit ain’t nobody supposed to be able to pull off
we’re our own romantic epic
like Frida in Paris
Audre in Mexico
standing on two tree trunk thighs
planted firm and swishing
when we were girls and someone said diva
we breathed in that word
and it turned into a glimpse of a woman we saw once
on a multiplex screen
a beautiful lady
who shone in her skin
and rose out of it
maybe it was our favourite aunty
or our mama when she was young
maybe it was Frida or Rosario
maybe we’ve never seen the one that could be us yet
but we make her up
we make her up outta thin air
outta brilliance and ass
it’s not always so glamorous close up
there’s a lot of shit in making movies you don’t see
I mean sure there’s
vintage slips
booty shorts
fabulous moments
but backstage
sometimes it’s a little more complicated
you’re the director and the producer
you gotta figure out
how to walk down the street how much skin you
want to show
how to fuck in the middle of the clubhow to feel it
how to get a discount on the copiesget immigration
status
not get deported when the club is raided not get kicked outta
the organization
and even though this is a movie
it’s the kind Hollywood will not make
we’ll go to Josie and the Pussycats just to see Rosario Dawson
sit through She Hate Me for five minutes of Sarita Choudhury
but we want more than that for our children
so we make our own movie
as we walk down the street
make revolutions with chipped turquoise nails
spread thighs and hard cocks
eight hours gooood sleep and dreams on satin wishbone pillows
and dreams?
girl, when we dream
we dream the cliffhanger ending
where girl is never bruised
spread thighs never despised
where every girl
can be the star of her own glitter-dusted revolution
we dream the place
where our lives
are what girls get to grow up
to be
“femmes are film stars” from Love Cake. Copyright © 2011 by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha. Gratefully reprinted with the permission of TSAR Publications.
