“Les fauves” – Jenna Jarvis

in 2014 sally hansen replaced its beloved pacific blue with a shimmery doppelgänger
of the original to the consternation of nail polish fans on instagram and makeupalley

that year a girl said jewel tones
couldn’t be smoky like
queer uniform wasn’t an oxymoron

a devoted winter i wore cobalt
wondered why women trusted
beauty guides insisting

via goethe that most people
of colour are winters but transitional
seasons get fucked anyway

now i’m supposed to choose a name
in chinese like it’s middle school
whether in language class

or on a forum roleplay
remember habbo hotel giggling
a room of 13-year-olds pretending

they’re just one & a little older
a dyadic encounter

when cyber meant tweens’
incumbent nomenclature

in 2004 burger king launched subservientchicken.com an early viral marketing campaign
featuring text commands hyperlinking to clips of a person in garters and a chicken suit

obviously we typed in sex
got a wagging finger not thrills
later summer basement laughter

stifled unlike the spread
thigh under that first skirt
black & baby-goth despite august

truth is the only
frying we did was vocal