First Date

by Sally Arango Renata
SC Writers Workshop
Honorable Mention, May 2007
Judged by Bryan Appleyard


As I turn towards the lake
I feel his glacial blue eyes
sizing me up from behind.

It’s not hubris, it’s a knowing,
an itch at the back of my brain.

He’s not my type.

So why the flounce,
the undulation?

My hips feel the freedom
to be rounder, my legs longer.
I stride aware of how the peach
on my toes contrast
with cerulean sandals.

My body is talking to me
and to him, in a swill
of invisible words
that will never be
mentioned

unless he is the one
to make the first move.


Like The Sandwich Hour, a narrative poem of great delicacy and precision. --Bryan Appleyard