Jane Zwart

Pink

Flesh and conch—
as if blushing
were the height
of arousal.
Pillow mints—
as if the palate
weren’t libertine. 

When I was tame,
I thought pink
meek: the look
in the rabbit’s eyes,
the weeping cherry. 

Just in time,
the rebuke
of grapefruit.
And ballet—
its pastel agonies,
its sadist grace.

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Jane Zwart teaches at Calvin University and co-edits book reviews for Plume. Her poems have appeared in Poetry, The Southern Review, Threepenny Review, HAD and Ploughshares and her first collection of poems is coming out with Orison Books in fall 2025.