Shannon Phillips earned her MFA in Creative Writing from California State University, Long Beach. Her first chapbook, My Favorite Mistake, is available from Arroyo Seco Press. After teaching ESL for 3 years, she decided to study Arabic and is currently pursuing her goal of working as a translator. She is also the founding editor of Picture Show Press and Carnival, an online poetry magazine.
Failing at English
I want to describe her legs as lusty,
as in: inspires my lust, but I can’t.
Lusty is a state, not to be projected
on legs or hair or a look.
It also means robust:
She has robust legs that are lust-worthy.
“I feel lustful” does not work for me, either.
The same is not true for sexy.
Her legs can be sexy, I can be sexy,
I can feel sexy and I can be inspired
to think of sex
by looking at her legs.