Portrait of Hockey Player as Missing Woman

From The Invisibility Exhibit, published by Talonbooks in 2008.

Done up in drag, he’s half-grinning.

Really, he couldn’t be expected

to take it seriously; it’s all just good PR,

the suspension’s aftermath.

His beard shaved for the occasion,

there’s a pinprick of dried blood

on his bruised cheek where the punch landed

and the home team’s fans cheered.

That’s past. Now he’s just a man

in a dress on the street,

passers-by on each side,

no Plexiglas. No one asking for autographs.