Refraction.

Ruby.

She finished the last dance of the night,
Passing me the banknotes stuffed in her bra
So that I might count them - maths, as she says
Each time, is difficult at the best of times,
Let alone beneath the whirring strobe lights.
I tell her the total, and then she asks how much of it
I put there - I laugh, and she insists on putting
Twenty pounds in my coat pocket, then her hands
Upon my shoulders, fingernails tantalisingly sharp
Against the sides of my neck, my collarbone, my chest...
She finished my whiskey, then leant in for a kiss -
It tasted so much better from her tender lips.
I saw warmth in her eyes as she wiped the lipstick
From my face, and her smile - it isn't easy to find the words.
It is not the smirk she performs upon the stage,
Nor is it the simper that she relies upon to receive copious tips
From the men at the bar, at the edges of the stage...
She smiles at me as though I'm an old friend,
And it leaves me besotted each and every time.
They ask how I can love her, date her, share a bed with her,
And I suppose they will never understand.
Their minds are shallow - they admire her upon the stage:
They admire her beauty, her confidence, the way in which she moves,
But say that shall never wed someone like her;
That they will have failed if they raise a daughter like her.
They desire her, and yet insist on stating otherwise.
They want her, until the glitter fades and she gets changed,
And suddenly they will only look the other way.
I could never understand it - if I love her when she dances,
I love her twice as much when she asks me to help
Her count her tips because she gets all muddles,
When she eventually admits defeat to the jam jar
After ten minutes of wrestling, and asks me to open it.
She is a powerful woman, a beautiful woman;
Empowered, passionate, fierce,
And yet she is so much more than that.
She is priceless, despite what those men may think;
She is loyal, clever, and ever so loving.
The world could only become a better place if there were more
People like her. Those men would become much better people
If they took a moment to learn from her.