INVITATION

1 0 9 R I N V I T A T I O N H A I L E Y L E I T H A U S E R ‘An entourage of slovenly blondes’ – Jay Hopler Slovenly blondes, mussed and unbuttoned, in feathering snow, in ice-burst of spring, in cloudless, unsparing summer – slatternly, come! Catchpenny, gaudy, untethered by girdle, in wind-shatter storms of September, in charring of fields – torn-stocking, come! Lipstick-smeared, loose-bosomed, huddled at awnings, shadowing storefronts, in twilight’s first quiet flicker of neon – lush-frowsy, lax and ambrosial, sidle and steal in your undulant plodding, pale across lawns, dumb as white ox 1 1 0 Y to your beauty, for I’ve become burdened and wearied with hope chests of linens smoothed dull as a snow bank, tissue-wrapped hosiery, unsnagged and untrammeled, immaculate collars, tidy peignoirs, sweaters that wait each day to be sullied, full bureaus of blouses, frail and unstained. ...