it should be
artless, this balance
of welcome
and reserve:
one is not born, but rather
becomes, a woman
she did learn
once what girls study
in school, though
witnesses
will not testify
and there are no books
written with
intelligence, but
not too much
all at once
because most men like to think
they are our mentors,
her buttons
just open enough
to balance
that tightrope
strung between temptress
and tramp, so practiced
where before
there was beautiful
composure;
her face masked
to cover her own hunger
showing too much self
and after
the show is over
her true face
will meet him
unexpectedly, at once
a shining wholeness
inspired by my Broad Blog muse (again), Georgia!
http://broadblogs.com/2013/01/23/girls-walk-fine-line-between-attractive-slut/
Susan Daniels Poetry 
I love this. I feel this. I know this. and sometimes i wonder at this. at the core have we gone any distance at all? still the game. still the struggle. but is it a struggle between us and them? or us and us? we become what we must…they become what they are naturally. we beguile, they guile. oh the web…
(am i out in left field? maybe, but you often put me there..intended or not)
Rhonda, thank you for liking this. I firmly believe (as one who never really understood the game, because I lack social skills 😉 ) that unless we move past stereotypes of all kinds and simply relate to each other as people we will constantly fall short of insane ideals and never fully understand one another. That would be an awful thing. As to being far out in left field, you are not out there–you are right where I wanted this draft to put you.
you are right in what you say as to moving past those stereotypes. i personally don’t see it happening, but i’ve often been wrong. and as to your social skills? puhleeese…it’s those skills we need dear sister to help rid us of those stereotypes. more like you. and i’m happy to hang out here until your next draft pulls me into the center.
Aw, you are a sweetie for saying so! Oh, hey. Um, did I hear you say you went LEFT of something?
haha…nice try. not THAT left. you wish!
😉 you know I had to say it…Love you, no matter which direction you lean, SFAM.
ditto 🙂
wait what?? YOu Know TWO people who don’t lean to the left? WHAT?
LOL, Audra–I know and love lots of people who don’t match my politics exactly–or even are completely opposite mine. I like to keep my life–options, and people in it, open. 😉
yes you do.. 🙂 and I thank you for that you wonderful woman
🙂
Wow! That sense of balance is expressed to effectively here, Susan.
Polly, thank you. Might be a critical balance, as I forgot to give this poor woman a safety net, didn’t I?
She’ll find her own …
I love that you are thinking of her safety net, Susan. I agree with Polly in that she’ll find her own, but I have to say how my heart swelled when I read that you were thinking of her, still…after the poem was posted. Your last line makes it bearable.
Thanks, Jane. Yes, this one stayed with me for a while.
Just amazing … loved reading the phases !!!
Thank you, Green!
I read Georgia’s post and felt haunted and troubled, worried about the girls growing up now. “Later”, I thought. “I’ll post on hers later.” And then went on to read yours. You got it. Thanks for being so fleet of pen.
Alice, thank you. I had to say something…
Love being a muse for your poetry. Thanks!
Thanking you. Your posts often strike a poetic chord with me somehow 😉
The discovery of self, the presentation of that self through partial concealment and disguise, the denial and subduing of emotions…all parts of a socialization into a socially constructed femininity that she works through as she walks towards the “prize” and paying a price for it!
Great poem, Susan. But what to do? To be or not to be? Zat, Susan is za hansa!
🙂 I think the answer is to just be.
A sense of balance aptly and powerfully described.
Thanks, Celestine.
Very perfected the sense of held composure is almost palatable
Bruce, thank you. That’s why I chose this light but strict syllabic form. I think it helped capture the tightrope walk 😉
Nice and thought provoking… mine was a rather late start. WIsh there was a creditable link to Cheryl Wheeler’s Hard Line To Draw, but none exists. 😦
Thanks, Nelle. Oh, that would have been perfect!