When they say
to hang loose like a fucking piece of laundry,
to await approach without taking flight,
to form a shape and color they can recognize;

That you must become less threatening--
to dangle there limp and unimpending,
to bare and stretch your lacy neckline,
to make lifeless your torn back and tattered torso;

This is when you must surely beware,
for, if you do as they say,
they will watch you all the more carefully,
becoming ever more summarily aware
of every wind's thrust and mind-forsaken wave.