Glen Armstrong

The Green Flashlight

I’m not so sure I get
all this hubbub about
a man becoming a woman.

We crave that.
We always have.
Uncle Mildred enters and the crowd goes wild.

Explain what makes
an eyelash “false.”
Consider the streets of Bangkok.

To illustrate my point, last basketball season,
the fellas and I would get together
after each game to try on makeup.

We would take turns wearing my mother’s
Japanese geisha robe in the dark and singing
“Lady Stardust” into the green flashlight.

It was a great way to unwind
after playing so
aggressively.

Some of us still pass around
the green flashlight
as needed.

Some of us glow
green from deep
within.