Butterflies & Ketchup

he wheeled a cart
with a bowl of ketchup
on it to a table across the room
where sat a Chinese woman
and her family
there was already ketchup
on the table
everyone knew it was just
to flirt with her
and I reeled off
a string of obscenities
with the gist of
F-you to him
and I knew
I could never compete
because I am not Chinese
you either are
or you aren’t

I escaped through a hole
he got there after

I noticed that I had
butterflies and hummingbirds
all over my body
I thought these were a natural
occurrence, like a mole
in these shapes
and I showed them to him
but then learned
that I had them tattooed
many years ago
the humming bird
with a huge red
gaudy heart next to it
on my mid right abdomen
over my rib cage
the butterflies
small and beautiful,
all over my chest

~Jenny