All the Bad Girls Wear Russian Accents

In the movies, villains have accents
sometimes German, but mostly Russian—
hard-edged lyrics of something forbidden,
severe haircuts, steel-blue eyes, and an appreciation for
Tchaikovsky! for a Black Swan kind of life,
for fairy tales built from curses.

"Say something in Russian," the boys beg me in school,
hoping for death threats, nuclear arms codes,
or, at least, "a good cussword or two?"
I answer, "K-RA-SA-VEE-TZAH!"
a bullet through every consonant,
bare my teeth on the "V"
exhale over that last "AH!"
imply Red lipstick.

"What does it mean?" I don't tell them,
only smile as they try to shape the unfamiliar
with their mouths, repeating
my mangled conviction over and over, laughing…

They will shout it after me, I know from experience,
throw it out with pride for remembering
the next time they see me
maybe, even use it as a perpetual greeting
for the only Russian-speaker they know.

Which is why I won't teach them anything ugly.
It will only be poured back over me later
—a feedback loop quicker than some.

'Krasaveetzah,' in Russian, means 'Gorgeous Woman'
which, in the movies, all the best villains are.