If I Were a Girl Poet.............(Circa 1920)

I would:

1-Learn to drink a Gin Martini, 2 olives, no twist, like a grown-up and not a funny-face-making child.

2-Spend all of my pocket money on cigarettes and smoke them while flourishing a holder the length of Pinocchio's nose.

3-Skimp on rent and have the one-room, dim, shiver-inducing dive to show for it but.....

4-Spend the money I save on accommodations on showy capes, real silk stockings and amazingly fine shoes.

5-Sleep until noon. Every day. As a matter of principle.

6-Skip breakfast. Skip lunch. Eat dinner at 10 PM.

7-Date impertinent, fiery geniuses. Juggle as many as is practical and let them know about one another.

8-Wear an inappropriate amount of make-up. In Public.

9-Occasionally sacrifice electricity in order to employ dress-maker. Candlelight is romantic, anyway.

10-Sleep with Literary Agent, Publisher, fellow poets and good-looking fans.

11-Make the crossing to Europe twice yearly. It is inspiring to my creativity.

12-Drink cafe au lait, at a sidewalk table, while pretending to be inconspicuous.

13-Make all men fall rapt at my feet, love-struck. Laugh because I do not reciprocate. This makes them want you more.