She
Lives at
One-oh-six,
Rides a ten-speed,
Listens to a mix
Of classic rock and soul.
Once you get past the bricks
Guarding her house and her ego,
You’ll see to whom my heart is transfixed
But God says I must admire from afar.
She
Joined no
Stupid cliques
Back in high school
Where girls had no dicks.
I’d swim the river Styx
And challenge Pluto for her,
But I can’t cross the crucifix
As He stares me down and tattle-tells
To my boss, to my mom, to politics.
This was written for Colleen Chesebro’s Tanka Tuesday #136, a photoprompt. I don’t really know where this came from, but I just looked at that peaceful little housefront and tried to imagine who lived there. The bicycle drew my attention. With “women’s bikes’ relatively rare out there, I tried to cultivate this image of a person trying really hard to seem feminine. As a North Carolinian, I’ve had close exposure to extremely transphobic laws and situations, and I guess that inspired this poem.
Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay
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Very good! This hits all the high points, in my opinion.
Thanks! I had to change it a little bit because I realized I’d messed up the syllables on one line, but it’s effectively the same. 🙂
This is very good. You’ve covered it.
Thanks! I think sometimes me and God don’t get along, and I come up with questions like these as a way to vent.
Well, I’d recommend you kicked God in the shins if it produces writing like this 🙂 Unless, of course, you are a devote follower.
I consider myself somewhat devout, but constantly worried and always plagued with doubt. Sometimes I worry giving voice to my fear makes it worse, and other times I think it’s important to work through rather than around the hard parts.
Hmm.
Sorry if that got awkward!
Only sort of 🙂
Only sort of 🙂 I should know better than to prod on a person’s religious adherence
Haha, I’m a fan of politics and religion, so I guess I stirred the pit first!
Okay. Both responsible. I don’t do politics. And I’m aware of how sensitve folks can be about religion. So I tend to keep my peculiar views to myself.
Sounds legit!
I love how eclectic it is, yet works really well. 🚲
Thanks! I’d never thought about eclecticism – perhaps that’s something I should look for in my poetry and see if I can improve! It might not work in many places I use it.
It tends to only work for me if I pen the odd assortments as they come to me.
A lot of it comes for me by trying to fit a rhyme scheme or syllable requirement.
That second verse made me giggle…
I remember at one point I think there was a magazine that featured the odd and outdated laws of areas. Like this one town in NJ where you couldn’t fish on Sundays… So of course when my hubby was a kid and visiting he had to explain the the Cop who wanted to give him a ticket that while he had a fishing pole and was at the end of the pier … the string was going up not down. Hubby was flying a kite!
Haha! That’s a good story!
Reblogged this on Where Genres Collide Traci Kenworth YA Author & Book Blogger.
Your poem is fabulous! I love how inspired your description is of who possibly lives in this house. That’s what I wanted… it looks so peaceful and calm. What secrets lie within? Excellent!!
Thank you! I was mostly scared that my attempt to be sensitive to a real situation would just be offensive. I’d rather take down a poem than let something even accidentally offensive stay up!
Poetry can be offensive too! LOL! Seriously, sometimes you have to go with your gut. Be who you are and write what you see. ❤
Will do!
This is amazing, you put your point across so succinctly. We are all people why is that so hard to accept. I hate what religion, and people do to others who don’t quite conform to the ‘norm’.
Great poem.💜
Thanks! I hoped that the speaker’s internal conflict made this poem more striking, and it seems to have worked! Thank you for your kind words.
Thank you for making us all think 💜
Congratulations on being poet of the week with this brilliant poem.
Thank you!
Now that’s so worthy of poet of the week. Excellent poem. 🙂
Thank you! It was fun to write.
Reblogged this on The Faery Writer and commented:
Congratulations to H. R. R. Gorman! He is the Poet of the Week!
Wow! I LOVE this! A creative, bold and luscious double etheree! There’s a story behind it and I want to know more. Congratulations on winning ‘Poet of the Week’ you deserved it. 😀
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it.
Well done!
Thank you!
You’re welcome!
This is well-written! I like your idea of who might be living in that house and I like that you chose to incorporate a controversial, but relevant topic into your poem. That’s not easy to do, I think, but you did it really well, H.R.R. 🙂
Thank you! It did end up being chosen as Poem of the Week in Colleen’s challenge, and I’m honored that it’s been so well received!