Thérèse 
- Thérèse on a Bench Seat, 1939
She stickslike a childhoodmemory
or a scabsticks to me. She swizzlesher legs, like straws
with oscillating stripes,cherry red, she wantsmy undivided attention.
She wants to show meher panties, she wants tobe my kid
sister. I want totake her to the zooand show her the pandas. Want to
show her they have circles around their eyeslike her mommy.But she
wants what she wantsand her protestsare sweet and sticky like grape soda,
so I let her have ither way.We waste the afternoon
on corn syrup and fizz andI buy hera package of peppermints. [End Page 54]
Elizabeth O’Brien lives in Minneapolis, where she earned an MFA in poetry at the University of Minnesota. Her work—poetry and prose—has appeared in many literary journals, including New England Review, Diagram, Sixth Finch, Whiskey Island, decomP, pank, Cut-Bank, Ampersand Review, Revolver, Swink, and Versal.
