Tenderloin Girls

    Used to be
    the prettiest girls
    were boys,
    but no more,
    for nowadays
    there's a whole mess
    of the most
    gorgeous women
    in heels
    and short tight dresses,
    standing on the corners
    as offerings
    to the
    ways of men,
  
    some so youthful
    that their long legs
    totter and tremble
    in their fancy shoes
    as do the steps
    of a new-born
    upon the plains
    of Africa,

    and strutting jazzily
    their tender flesh
    to catch an eye
    and then lean
    in provocative geometry
    in a car window
    to state terms
    and size customers,

    with small handbags
    squeezed tight
    to their sides
    as at times
    they gather
    in groups
    and emanate
    an erotic power
    seemingly enhanced
    by numbers,

    and yet to stroll
    and listen in
    reveals nothing more
    than simple gossip
    and observation,
    for after all
    these are
    just working
    girls.

    and so …
    I wonder ...
    can a pretty girl
    in a short red dress
    take away
    this emptiness?
   
    Hold me close
    squeeze me tight
    fill my soul
    with rays of light?