Stiletto by Erica Jasmin Dixon

Stiletto

Watch
       The way
I swing
       My hips
As if
       I have
No concern,
       The confident clicks
Of my heels
       Mask
The negativity
       They say
Women have earned.

       Watch
The way
       I rest my face
Without
       A care
If you think
       I’m pretty.
They scoff
       And scold
As if
       I breathe
Only
       To brighten
Their personal city.

*

Erica Jasmin Dixon is a writer, actress, and artist originally from Raeford, North Carolina. She holds an MFA degree from Queens University of Charlotte and her creative work has appeared or is forthcoming in various literary publications, to include I-70 Review, For Women Who Roar, Dream Noir Literary Magazine, and blood orange tarot.