Tonight's Poet Corner: Design-A-Lover

Design-A-Lover
by Belinda Roddie

They told me I could pick out
everything,
from the hair to the lips to the
eyes as bright as sequins, from the
hips to the tips of their toes.
I could mold, brush, curve, bend,
whittle, and sculpt the perfect model
of a man or woman to suit my
aesthetic tastes,
but the personality
was entirely up to them.

He emerged like Adonis
from the trees, curls bouncing
on his bright head, but he wore
a business suit
and smelled a bit too much like
champagne. She burst into view
wearing heels as sharp as her brow
and as red as her mouth,
but the words
that tumbled past her teeth
meant little to nothing to me.
They were both like drinking honey
and eating sweets, giving me energy,
but offering only meager
sustenance.

I told them, No, Thank you, Perhaps
next time I would be
in a better mood. I walked
out of the store empty-handed. I went
to the café across the street,
where they had wi-fi
and affordable macchiatos.
I sat down, exhaled,

and perused a handful
of websites to see if
maybe,
just maybe,
Craft-A-Suitor had gotten
better customer reviews.