Halcyon

untitled #6

oh, i remember!

that weird-looking girl,
black, black glasses
bigger than her face,
with a book sticking to her front,
curly hair and an awful countenance,
an intelligence mistaken
for over-attitude.
who'd welcome the fuckin' rivalry
of gender positions,
prejudices, and male egos?
a straight-A girl,
bent expectations.

oh, wasn't she too loud for a woman?
well, don't want to be rude,
but this is how the world works:
brains don't make good girlfriends.
they make parodies, caricatures
until one sad boy falls for her
and is chastised
for not being "man enough."
when did men ever start loving minds?
don't say we didn't warn you,
they mock him.
a woman with opinions is always,
always a fuckin' complication.

so he stomped her heart
and stepped back
admired her from a distance,
mocked her up close,
passed comments
to shut the world up.
while she fetched academic achievements
by paying emotional penalties.

then he'll find a girl
cuter, funnier, easier—
laughing at his stupid jokes.
but late at night,
when she is fast asleep,
he'll think of her,
still loving
the very idea of her.