Nothing Wrong
R. Kelly tune you dance to topless in
the 90’s, main stage stripper’s choice of song,
the one that says “nothing wrong.” You listen,
a child abuse victim, bubblegum thong
to lyrics saying you belong. Back bent
atop one more businessman, you don’t
understand this song’s not about consent,
adults, the sex positivity you want
it to be — boobs below a chin again
so you can be financially free
from an abusive family — that when
he says confess it means molest. Don’t see
the broken, starving girls inside the song,
house in Georgia where everything’s wrong.
Kristin Garth is a Pushcart & Best of the Net nominated sonnet stalker. Her poetry has stalked magazines like Glass, Yes, Five:2: One, Anti-Heroin Chic, Former Cactus, Occulum, Luna Luna, & many more. She has four chapbooks Pink Plastic House andGood Girl Games (Maverick Duck Press), Pensacola Girls (Bone & Ink Press, Sept 2018), and Shakespeare for Sociopaths (Hedgehog Poetry Press Jan 2019). She has another forthcoming, Puritan U (Rhythm & Bones Lit March 2019). Her full length, Candy Cigarette, is forthcoming April 2019 (The Hedgehog Poetry Press). She has a collaborative full length A Victorian Dollhousing Ceremony (Rhythm & Bones Lit) forthcoming in June. Follow her on Twitter (@lolaandjolie) and her website (kristingarth.com).