Table of Contents
On the Subway 11
In the Public Library 12
Future Doctor 14
Bad Dogs 16
First School Dance 18
Father's Mother 20
Reading Room 22
Childhood Ballade 24
Grown-Up Shoes 26
Perfect Ride 28
Spirit of '76 30
Little Brothers 32
Advice on Being a Pesky Little Sister 34
Penmanship 36
Nothing but Words 37
My Tutor 38
For Beauty's Sake 40
Dinner Hour 42
First Concert 44
Adolescent Confession 46
Poem for the Purchase of a First Bra 48
Elegy for Rick James 50
O Holy Night 52
Birth of a Nation 53
For My Brother 55
Some of My Best Friends Are White People 57
Headstone 58
After Shaving My Head, I Begin to Think Beauty Is Overrated 60
Confessions of a Barefaced Woman 62
A History of African-American Hair 64
To Be Young, Not-So-Gifted, and Black 66
The Reluctant Integrations 68
Grace Jones at the Republican National Convention 70
The Other Allison 72
Vacations 74
Ex-New Yorkers 76
The Aisles of Misfit Equipment 78
The Vagina Business 80
In Praise of the Penis 82
Venus de Milo Takes a Sexual Enlightenment for Women Class 84
Nape 85
Why Men Whistle 86
On Viewing Two Different Date Rape Movies 88
Janis Joplin Visits Cheerleading Camp 90
Role Models 92
Daughter, Mother, Sister, Wife 94
What Women Want 96
Bad Meals Threaten Our Marriage 98
Flirtation 100
Junk Food 101
Dinner Party 102
Why I'm Not a Scholar 104
It Wasn't a Love Connection 106
The Ideal Listener 107
Homage to Leonardo Drew's Number 108
I Love You, Jimmy Poquette 109
Ballade For Dorothy Parker 110
Misery: A Guide 111
The Liars 113
Regrets 116
