Thursday, July 1, 2010

New Poems


Weakness Strengthened By Audrey (what else is new?)

It's just so easy.
Google “Beautiful Women.”
Instead of images of Gloria Steinem and Kathy Aung;
Bikini-clad supermodels, actresses and athletes are showing off what gets them attention-
As if they patented the phrase.
Search results for 'female models:' 21.6 million.
Search results for 'female activists:' 0.9 million.
Value is decided by dollar signs rather than piece of mind.
Our eyes are lied to,
Coaxed to indulge in shapes and curves
While the shape of the modern woman curves downward
Until the gift of mind is a mirage.
It's just so easy.
Go to the magazine stand:
Maxim sells out while Ms. is out selling
Truth that women are not Barbie dolls to be undressed at will.
But sex wins because thinking is too hard
And mystery is used to being solved in 60 minutes.
The brain is so polluted with skin that any attempt to clean it out
Is scorned, leaving you alone, 
Going through withdrawal.
Prevention is the only successful remedy. 
Constant bombardment is too difficult to turn from so
Let it control you.
You are a machine, programmed for repetition.
Place sole blame on The Media 
Who gives license to gawk at “beautiful women.”
It's just so easy.
Appreciation of exaggerated physical beauty is accepted as an excuse
And high test scores are considered proof that even smart women 
Show off their bodies. 
But intelligence doesn't seek societal approval,
It challenges it.
(After all, brokenness isn't visible on airbrushed faces.)
Weakness needs strength.
The past reminds us
REAL beautiful women don't need 
Quotes around the words, Google searches
Or recognition-
They just need to be the future.







Perspective

I parallel park-
I'm actually going to be early today.
The sky releases drizzle.
It looks like it will pass in a moment.
I stay inside my car to wait it out.
A car parallel parks behind me.
The driver opens his door and places a wheelchair on the pavement.
It's raining.
He swiftly shifts seats, locks his door and rolls off.
He's early every day.