If I could pull it off like Audrey Hepburn
I'd probably smoke. It has to be Audrey,
not Katharine--no candid no-nonsense
puffs for me, but the sultry pose
men reel to light. I mime poise

in black flats and pearls, elbow
hipbalanced and wrist tipped back
as smoke wisps upward. I'd choke
if I inhaled the thing, hack
ingénue that I am, so better
to hold it off to the side
and smile, defenseless

as my bra strap slips
off my shoulder.

December 2002