Sonnet 63 – Wake Up and Smell the
Geritol
My mother swore that I was unlovable
And thus she guaranteed that it would
be
My aging body grows unmovable
Fat and spotted, with boobs down to the
knee
Intelligence counts if the bod is right
Picasso and Neruda get the girls
And so did Gertrude Stein, to her
delight
But cursed I am wanting masculine
pearls
Racism, pollution and hatred rage
This is not the time for hearts and
roses
Idiots turns back society’s page
Too dumb to know they cut their own
noses
No fantasy of once more being young
We can’t unring a bell already rung
This poem says so much to me. I grew up with my mother constantly telling me I needed to lose weight, though now I know that Mothers criticize in their daughters, what bothers them about themselves. She once told me "maybe if you lose weight, he'll ask you to marry him." I looked at her and said, "why would I want to marry someone who only wanted me if I lost weight? You don't weight what you did when you got married, does Dad love you any less?" I did make the mistake of marrying the guy, but it wasn't because I lost weight.
ReplyDeleteMy mother didn't want kids and accused of us of demanding to arrive unwanted. I was shy and more intellectual, so she decided I was going to take care of her someday and tried to keep me home. Figured it out at age 20 and ran, never looking back. I grabbed hold of any man I thought was so insane no one else would want them, and of course they spent all my money and cheated on me. Now that I know better, it's too late. Whattayagonnado?
DeleteI am still struggling with the whattayagooado, even though I know what would make me happier.
ReplyDelete