Valerie Loveland

REVERSIBLE DRESS

An admirable duality, the dress transforms
in a flourish of cloth, like a magic trick.

Two-in-one, seams hide back to back, each trimmed
and lined with the other. Only one at a time,
they alternate: one sulks, bored, on the inside, while
the other, outside, radiates elation.

Zippers and belts flip too -- those snakes
can lie top or underbelly up.

The dress keeps its secret easily (nobody looks good
turned inside out) although it doles clues: a familiar
accent or a turned collar, a suspicious swelling
that comes from wearing too many outfits at once.

It's obvious they're sisters, but nobody
guesses what kind.

Like flip dolls, two-headed -- each lurks
under the other's skirt -- waiting
to cartwheel to the foreground.

Valerie Loveland works as a receptionist at a pet resort in Austin, Texas. To read more of her poems, visit her website: valerieloveland.com.