a poem in which i try to express how the pole has become sacred

Chelsea Fonden is a poet, workshop facilitator, and community-based teaching artist with work featured in magazines such as No, Dear; Yes, Poetry; and Breadcrumbs. Chelsea founded and hosted the Eclipsed Reading Series in NYC for 3 years, and currently serves as a Poetry Reader for The Los Angeles Review. She has been awarded writing residencies at gardens, museums, and farms across the US, but lives in Brooklyn with her dog, Holiday. ︎

01. a poem in which i try to express how the pole has become sacred

+ it is right to give it thanks + praise,
these dry hands, this pleasure.
a seduce, the approaching-- black crop
tops with no hint of support, just a string down
the back + little gold hoops at the clavicle, gravel-
colored shorts that horseback
ride off into the dusk of my body.
everlasting-- joy thunderous as my silhouette carved
into solitude. my first one-handed dip-
turn, i hover + glow mothlike, beaming, toe-point like a spade
and the bigger the triangle, the bigger the secret you’ll paint
will gloss over into everything, scoop hip-swishing mountains airsplash
and the body moving in seashells, in comets, in waves.
everybody in my life has been yelling for release, i am held
by a newness tender as soap, i’m not scared, i tell them, i trust
i’ll come down like an emergency, hand-backs feeling
for heat, stop-drop-you-
can let go. backwards fling like a skyrat,
like a big glass building dressed like a french maid who is giggling
with her legs making a diamond, go down
in grace and snakeskin spine all sand + rosebuds, raindrop back
make it nasty mmmm--hmmmm it’s a throathum stuffed with peaches left-
right cascade up a soft prisming back shoulder curve out
into the light, kneeling

︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎

02. corporate dirty talk

read the body:
let me put this on your radar
i need to pivot, yes
i need to hop on
i need to get off
circle back, baby
let me show you this procedure
that's it, that makes
a lot of sense
i need to meet you
urgently
what volume
let's touch
base, run
point, spread
sheets, do
a demo
slow down
can you see it
we need to get this in ASAP
i'm willing to train
what an opportunity
we need to get it right
let me
walk you through
how to do it
step by step
we'll continue this, together
no such thing as too much practice
and we can address it all
to your liking,
strive for excellence
continuous improvement
quick, quick
we don't have
much time
did you come
prepared

ADULT GROCERIES