Susan Daniels Poetry

By Raymond Bechard

Excerpted with permission from “How to Lose a Woman Forever” on The Good Men Project

Raymond Bechard summarizes Travis McGee’s views on women into 22 rules to losing the love of your life forever.

Only a woman of pride, complexity and emotional tension is genuinely worth the act of love, and there are only two ways to get yourself one of them. Either you lie, and stain the relationship with your own sense of guile, or you accept the involvement, the emotional responsibility, the permanence she must by nature crave. I love you can be said only two ways.

Travis McGee, The Deep Blue Good-By, 1964

1. Don’t protect her.

She’s a big girl. There’s no reason to help her feel safe in the way she needs to feel safe. There are no guarantees in life so it’s not rational to expect security in relationships. (And nothing…

The Hunt House, on Fire Island, by architect Andrew Geller / photograph by Nina Leen

I don’t wish to offend with this bit, but anger is as anger sees it.  I respect people’s right to speak.  I respect my own to respond.  This is written in response to a blogger on WordPress, who I thought I might actually name here but won’t.  There’s little point.

Old White Man Hating on Stuff

Hey old white guy, I heard

You won’t write a book about Islam

Because maniacs may come and get you

Well I heard and I thought

About maniacs and massacres

But all I could really do

Is think about you

You said Muslims are strange

Their god is ungodly

You say they don’t smile

They have no music or culture

Because Lady Gaga is Mozart right

And Fear Factor is epic tv

They lack art and can’t inspire imagination?

You said that?  Maybe

Behind your computer think you’re tough

Must…