Danez Smith
Danez Smith
Danez Smith
Danez Smith
Danez Smith
Danez Smith
Danez Smith
Danez Smith
This poem was published by Pank under the title “Mail.” It is an apology letter to the wife of the woman that the narrator is being paid to sleep with.
Dear Mrs. Thompson,
Sorry if you ever tasted the salt of me
when you kiss your husband good morning.
I hope it didn’t taint your coffee
or make bloody murder of your lipstick.
I killed your marriage, and you
deserve to know that
he is not everything you prayed for,
but maybe his sweet kiss morning
is enough.
Dear Thompson,
Your ATM code is 9976.
Your family owns one Honda, one Ford,
all 3 of your children have bikes.
You have a fireplace,
3 copies of People magazine,
at the top of the stairs your children’s room is to the left,
the guest bed to the right,
your room straight ahead,
all your walls are white
like lies,
everything smells like lavender,
you have really nice sheets.
Dear Mrs. Thompson,
Your husband pays me 50 extra dollars
when I bust on his face,
25 more when I kiss him after.
I have never seen a man scrub so hard,
his skin red like the sin he’s trying to exfoliate.
He never brushes his teeth.
Can you taste his shame?
Did I bitter the back of your tongue?
Dear Mrs. The Bitch (as he calls you),
I imagine your scalp
adorned with 300 grey follicles,
one for every dead president
your man slaps on my chest,
his hand dragging until I'm the pillar he prays to.
I’m sorry for being holy to him.
Dear Mrs. Clueless
Sorry if I ever took food out of your children’s mouths.
If they have ever gone hungry
because your hubby feasted on me,
let me offer them the groceries I bought with his sacrifice.
Dear woman,
Have you ever wondered
why it takes him long to get dressed?
His outfit must be perfect and able to disguise.
He can’t leave the closet
until he can’t recognize himself.
Dear Mrs.,
When your husband tells you the bruises on his neck
are from bar fights, that’s my fault.
I have choked him twice.
Once because he asked me to.
The second time, he called me his nigger child
and I choked him.
Yes, I still came.
Yes, he came harder.
Yes, he paid me extra to apologize.
To Whom this may concern,
Have you ever fucked your husband
from behind?
I have, when he’s been a bad boy
cause it hurts him more,
but most of the time he is on his back,
he likes to rub my chest
while I gut him.
I wonder does he rub yours
when you are laying and open
and lied too.
Dear Ma’am,
You look lovely
in the pictures next to the bed
he turns face down.
Your smile bright as starry country night,
never let him cloud it.
Dear, Dear, Dear Sweet Woman,
I feel like we are family now.
I say this because I love you:
Caution the way his hips grind
and teeth part in his sleep.
Dear Mrs. Thompson,
I fuck your husband twice a week.
He pays me.
He is lying
next to you.
Dear you,
He called me your name once, Ann.
I just thought you should know.
Dear Mrs. Thompson (or Mail) was written by Danez Smith.
Dear Mrs. Thompson (or Mail) was produced by Button Poetry.