BEE LB & Lee Pearson

cw for gendered manipulation, (sexual) violence

ode to the bimbo

with a line from Carrie Bradshaw

honey drips from your lips, words meaningless and sweet
brain filled to the brim with cotton-candy nothings

do you think of anything but pink? do you think of anything
but the curve of your own body?

those big, empty eyes, shining with nothing behind them
looking only for the next set of pleasers

begging when it suits you, leaking tears on a whim
the whole world available to you and you choose
to tie your own skin-baring halter

you feast on the eyes that feast on your body
and your tongue licks up each slanted compliment,
hiking your dukes a little higher

your body filled only with reliance for another;
what a tempting thought

arm looped with someone bigger, lashes batting
at something better, lips bitten until you’re safe

in the knowledge that all eyes are on you
that no body is desired more than yours
that any heart you dig your stiletto claws into
won’t be able to pull away

the secret of it all is, you emptied your own mind
bent over the bed until it all fell out

fashioned yourself smaller and smaller until
you could fit in the palm of any man’s hand

and they’d be so enraptured they couldn’t help
but to feel indebted, a brand of ownership
proud on both hips

your tongue is barbed, but you know how to soothe
sweet faces pulled in by the chin for a kiss

the inherent control in submission is not lost on you
your body may be the one bowing
but you’ll be the last of their thoughts forever

BEE LB is an array of letters, bound to impulse; they are a writer creating delicate connections. they have called any number of places home; currently, a single yellow wall in Michigan. they have been published in Badlung Press, Revolute Lit, Red Weather, and Catchwater Magazine, among others. their portfolio can be found at twinbrights.carrd.co

Lee Pearson is a multidisciplinary artist located in Florida, currently studying printmaking. Their work discusses intimate violence, religious guilt, and the transgender body. You can find them on Instagram @eelinfestation