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33 Prom girls We were the girls Who never went to the prom Because it was scheduled the weekend Before our divisional meet, And we, the women’s track team, Were going to make it to Nationals, Even beyond, our hearts fixed On that one date each time we’d line up To stretch our hamstrings, Look at the definition In each other’s quadriceps and thighs, Searching for that whisper of flesh That would betray us, Make us like those silly prom girls Who worried about Ralph Lauren dresses And J. Renee shoes, the way Their hair curled down their backs And coiled up the gawking men, The men that we, the women’s track team, Tried so hard to be, our breasts run off By months and months of eleven miles Twelve thousand feet straight up Kitt Peak, our biceps Hard as buttons, our backs and flanks Muscled like horses, our skin tanned deep, Repeat quarters and lung-knifed Sprints, our breath fixed on that wish We each wanted most: I have substance.See me. ...

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