On Being Mistaken for a Whore in a Laundromat,
Pensacola Florida, July 12, 1979
Donna Johnson

Luann in lotus position
on lime metal folding
chair, long blonde hair
curling around her toes.
I reading in tight waffle knit
striped top, strapless, sweating
over Sartre.

Maybe we should have cracked
your head with Luann’s ten pound
History of the Western World or
sacrificed my being and nothingness ―
that which pleases the heart.

Maybe we should have
fucked you for broke, gone
out later for dim sum.

Donna Johnson has published poetry and reviews in Birmingham Poetry Review, Café Review, Green Mountains Review, Oracle Literary Review, Perihelion, Roanoke Review, Tulane Review, Two Rivers Review and other journals.

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