Poem: On Reading "Not a Muse," an Anthology of Women's Poetry

A rough draft.


On Reading Not A Muse, an Anthology of Women’s Poetry

I am not a woman,
have never made love to a woman
and will probably never make love to a woman
since I prefer a man’s sweet nerve.

Reading this anthology, subtitled
the inner lives of women,
I wonder what a thing a woman is.

I think she is my sister
crying at the other end of the line, in a different continent,
who not so secretly worshipped and resented me
but now asks in wild abandonment,
“Why can’t you keep it in?”

Comments

Sandy Longhorn said…
Lovely draft. I esp. like "a man's sweet nerve" and the distance both physical and emotional btwn the speaker and the sister. Lots of energy there. Good luck with it.
10:06 AM
Jee Leong said…
Thanks for the comment, Sandy.
8:53 PM
Anonymous said…
"probably",
not certainly...
I am worried.

:-)
6:42 PM
Larry said…
I like this a lot.
The term "wild abandonment" is not working for me: its regular usage is "wild abandon", and in any case I don't think this captures the appropriate emotion, which I imagine should be dismay or dejection.

Best,
Larry
10:12 AM
Jee Leong said…
Eshu,
You know I like to be prepared for any eventuality.

Thanks, Larry, for coming in on this one. It bears more thinking.
7:40 PM
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