Walk All Over You

• The stiletto boots in the back of my closet are
• restless, long to stroll the 3rd Street Promenade,
• looking for a red silk bustier. A Louis Vuitton bag.
• A lover who won’t let me down.

• The stiletto boots in the back of my closet
• want to party, want to grab my feet,
• climb my calves, hug my thighs. They’re
• ready for action. Ready to put on a skintight
• Versace. Ready to head for the club.

• They want to clack on terrazzo floors,
• totter from great heights, see the world.
• Escape the flats, the Mary Jane’s, the penny
• loafers, the two-toned, two-faced saddle Oxfords
• that guard the closet door.

• The stiletto boots in the back of my closet
• want to walk all over you, punish you for
• cheating, make you pay.
• They long to wrap themselves around
• you, put you in a headlock, rake your thighs —
• want to lead you into

• Debauchery.
• Saran Wrap.
• Whipped cream.
• Wesson Oil.
• Room service.

• Remember?

• The stiletto boots have a short attention span, choose
• not to remember why they were banished, or what you
• did. They’re desperate to reclaim you,
• dig their heels into your shortcomings,
• make little marks up and down your libido.
• Welcome you home.

• My stilettos can’t forget you.
• My stilettos can’t move on.
• My stilettos will forgive you.
• Even if I cannot.

• They bear the scuff marks
• of your betrayal far better than do I.

• Like the last time and the time before.
• They want to get started, head out the door.
• Who do you think gave me those fucking boots,
• anyway?

Alexis Rhone Fancher is the author of How I Lost My Virginity to Michael Cohen and Other Heart Stab Poems (Sybaritic Press, 2014). Her poems have appeared in many literary journals, including Rattle, The MacGuffin, Fjords, Chiron Review, Slipstream, H_NGM_N, and Menacing Hedge. Her photos are widely published and have appeared in Blue Lyra, River Styx, HeART Online, and have been the cover art for Witness and The Mas Tequila Review. In the past two years, Fancher has been nominated for three Pushcart Prizes and a Best of the Net award. She is poetry editor of Cultural Weekly and can be contacted at alexisrhonefancher.com.