New Work
The Practical Side of Dreams
I become a hotel maid
because there will always be
a practical side to the dreamiest
of moments. It is a fancy hotel
where the rich go to sleep, shower,
shit, and fuck. I change their towels
and sheets with a ridiculous devotion.
At least one room per shift has some blood.
At least one room per shift has vomit
running alongside the base of the toilet
like the tiny-flowered trim around a garden.
But I always manage to get a lipstick,
usually Chanel and usually red.
I have a collection now and they each
have the voices of those who wore it
and most of them are angry that they lost
their lipstick, never suspecting the maid.
I am invisible here, too, but it feels good.
There is a comfort in blending
into the wallpaper and just watching
with a sluggish, bulimic heart.
© Carrie McGath, Dollface, 2017