Make the Woman

Let me put on
this blazer 
with brooch,

pull back my hair
into a tight
knot.

There.
Will that
do?

Perhaps you'd prefer
this red silk
dress

bare legs
and spiked
heels

or this flowery
innocent
shirtwaist?

No? This strapless
tube, then
you can see

the ring
in my
navel. Pull.

You long
for leather
and high boots

with a whip?
Even now
you're in charge.

Oh, you want me to
unzip my skin
for you?

Here, let me
fold it
onto this chair.

Happy now?

 

This week's prompt was to use this everyday topic [clothes] to inspire poetry.

Comments

[Rethabile]

Enjoyed that. I love Plath, and at moments in your poem I hear her:

"You long
for leather
and high boots

with a whip?"

Nice.

[Crafty Green Poet]

Very well controlled monologue about control

[Jo]

Oh this has me grinning from ear to ear! Splendid.

[UL]

What a woman! Tempatation personified...nicely put.

Biting close. Nothing ever quite right. Initially I thought she was seeking someone else's approval, by the close for me it was a conversation with self.

[susan]

Sorry. Hit post before signing off.

[Leigh Lear]

very nice, i like it.

[gautami]

I liked the monologue very much..

[Christine]

Our clothing is a second skin, announcing us to the world. A lighthearted poem with a message.

[Linda Jacobs]

I love the way this is written! Very few words that tell a gigantic, universal story!

[Cathy]

Love the sarcasm in it.

[SB]

Ah, thank you, Cathy. For awhile there, I feared I had lost my edge.

I *thought* I had written an angry, bitter rant on gender. In fact, I hesitated to post this, afraid it was so sharp it might cut the reader.

But -- no.

[...deb]

I especially like the title and how it ends. It does bite a bit, but it should, shouldn't it?

[sister AE]

Ouch! Oh the expectations society places on us and our appearance.

[Sweet Talking Guy]

Unzip my skin for you? It sounds so painful it must be tongue in cheek! (I hope)

[Rob Kistner]

Very interesting tone, and a fine poem. I hear the pursued and the aggressor in this voice. Engaging blend...

[paisley]

i loved how each peice of clothing held its own stereotypical assignment... and then there are people like me that are more at home in rag sthan anything else....

[Jessica]

Lovely poem -- I'm particularly intrigued by the stanza about the navel ring. The use of "pull" is really surprising. Nice job!