Ally’s Reviews > Good Dress > Status Update
Ally
is on page 80 of 104
I know what they say of the hiss
of vanity, how it holds me
back from heaven. I know also
how grief folds my voice
into its back pocket. Don’t think
me dramatic. People have died
touch-starved, penniless.
I will not settle for anything
less than sunflowers. In every room, a vase full
of their ornate faces, bone-straight backs.
Everything keeping me alive is the most
beautiful.
- "I Am Too Pretty for This"
— Aug 11, 2025 01:57PM
of vanity, how it holds me
back from heaven. I know also
how grief folds my voice
into its back pocket. Don’t think
me dramatic. People have died
touch-starved, penniless.
I will not settle for anything
less than sunflowers. In every room, a vase full
of their ornate faces, bone-straight backs.
Everything keeping me alive is the most
beautiful.
- "I Am Too Pretty for This"
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Ally’s Previous Updates
Ally
is on page 52 of 104
once I’m tricked into thinking I’m too old for miniskirts,
the glory of exposed thighs, large hoops? I imagine
my children squinting at old photos proof that I was a woman
_before_ them, thinking in this picture _my mama know she fine._
- "Ode to My Mama and 'The Purple Dress,' circa 1992-1993"
— Aug 08, 2025 06:10PM
the glory of exposed thighs, large hoops? I imagine
my children squinting at old photos proof that I was a woman
_before_ them, thinking in this picture _my mama know she fine._
- "Ode to My Mama and 'The Purple Dress,' circa 1992-1993"
Ally
is on page 51 of 104
The sun nudges the curtains
open, draws me close
enough to kiss her heat.
I put on the lace, midday,
and pose—thigh cocked
over milk-drunk sheets.
- "Flo Milli Shit"
— Aug 06, 2025 09:55PM
open, draws me close
enough to kiss her heat.
I put on the lace, midday,
and pose—thigh cocked
over milk-drunk sheets.
- "Flo Milli Shit"
Ally
is on page 51 of 104
I ordered the Fenty
months before the last birth,
after the miscarriage drug
grief by its mangy neck
and left the remains—leaky, foul,
ruining my clean floor.
I tell myself I earned
the impractical—sex,
sheer panties, splurging—as
I rush to get my purse,
stepping over the bills
pooled at the front door.
- "Flo Milli Shit"
— Aug 06, 2025 09:54PM
months before the last birth,
after the miscarriage drug
grief by its mangy neck
and left the remains—leaky, foul,
ruining my clean floor.
I tell myself I earned
the impractical—sex,
sheer panties, splurging—as
I rush to get my purse,
stepping over the bills
pooled at the front door.
- "Flo Milli Shit"
Ally
is on page 46 of 104
She swears she's here to stay,
but the only honesty is death.
She reminds me she'll meet the Lord
one of these days. I don't want Him
to have her. Forgive my blasphemy.
She's where I get my ornery tongue. She is where
I get my everything. You expect me
to give that up? I belong to this line
of daughters; before I was born, her kin.
- "Good Ground"
— Aug 04, 2025 07:55PM
but the only honesty is death.
She reminds me she'll meet the Lord
one of these days. I don't want Him
to have her. Forgive my blasphemy.
She's where I get my ornery tongue. She is where
I get my everything. You expect me
to give that up? I belong to this line
of daughters; before I was born, her kin.
- "Good Ground"
Ally
is on page 18 of 104
He didn't notice my polished toes / my doe legs smoothed with cocoa butter;
how carefully I shaved;
- "I Lost My Virginity After Making a Pact / 'To Become Women' with My Cousins"
— Aug 04, 2025 07:12PM
how carefully I shaved;
- "I Lost My Virginity After Making a Pact / 'To Become Women' with My Cousins"
Ally
is on page 12 of 104
We reach our arms across
the circulation desk and ask
for more than they have given us.
- "Self-Portrait as Detroit Public Library, Franklin Branch"
— Aug 02, 2025 07:35PM
the circulation desk and ask
for more than they have given us.
- "Self-Portrait as Detroit Public Library, Franklin Branch"
