The world was her world -
Spangled lights,
Glitter,
Smiles on empty faces
Crowded in to eat her breath:
She held it all at bay
With bitter-sweet song,
Defined its limits
With her own limits -
Wouldn’t go that far,
Wouldn’t give money,
Wouldn’t smile at strangers,
Wouldn’t talk on buses,
Wouldn’t walk in the leaves,
Wouldn’t hold his hand,
Wouldn’t sit at THAT table
Eat foreign food
Wear the wrong kind of makeup
Those clothes
Drive in that car
Be civil to that person
Read those sorts of books
Go dirty
Go native
Go bad
Go insane -
She was that sort of girl,
Wouldn’t do nuffink -
Wouldn’t do well:
Go to hell !
5/5/00
Cynical poem about an ex-girlfriend trapped in conformity
