The Poetry Corner
Amanda Kelly
Charlegne Millet
Heather Lamborn
Holly Mansfield
Sarah Knight
WHAT WOULD IT BE LIKE TO WEAR A PRETTY
DRESS?
What would it be like to sit while I pee?
To put ribbons in my hair, without mommy scolding me!
I'm going to have to hide , I guess.
What would it be like to wear a pretty dress?
What would it be like to have a doll of my own?
You know, someone to hug when you feel all alone!
Dad keeps saying to me "Your different than the rest".
But he doesn't know how I look in a dress!
Why can't I play with the girls at school?
Hopscotch and jump rope seem really cool!
The boys are too rough, and everything is a test.
I wouldn't want them to see me in a dress!
What would it be like to kiss a boy?
To have him call me on the phone, after he walked me home.
Coach says I should play football a game I detest!
He's trying to stop me from wearing a dress.
What would it be like to make love to a man?
To feel the strength of his arms, and the softness in his hands!
But my marriage is really the best.
She doesn't even mind my wearing a dress!
I What would it be like to give birth to a child?
To feel her inside you, while you wait for her smile.
Since the kids have been born, our life has been full of duress.
She doesn't want them to see me in a dress!
Forty years have gone by and I'm still waiting to live.
My thoughts and feelings are mixed, something has to give!
There is no one left for me to impress.
I spend a lot of time in public wearing a dress
I'm desperate now, and my back's to the wall.
I feel like a woman, but I'm so damn tall!
The only way to get out of this mess,
Is to change my body to fit this pretty dress!
Goodbye Mother
© 1997 Heather Jean Lamborn
Goodbye my mother, I love you so.
You who loved me with all of your heart,
I wish I could give a last caress,
and from your cheek, brush away the tears.
Second born, I am son and daughter
I wish you could hear my words of love.
Before me, there was another love.
Her time was brief, just six weeks or so.
You loved her, your beautiful daughter.
But sadness filled your eyes and your heart
when an early death brought forth your tears,
and she you no longer could caress.
Then came me, another to caress.
I, your last chance for a child to love,
was your joy, wiping away your tears.
With no brother nor sister and so
it fell upon me to cheer your heart,
only me, your son become daughter.
I was your son, also your daughter.
As you loved me, I learned to caress,
the joys of childhood filling my heart.
When I would cry, you gave me your love,
holding me close, and loving me so,
smoothing my hair and wiping my tears.
As the years passed, you dried off your tears,
no longer mourning your lost daughter.
I became man, yet tender and so
I became her, for you to caress.
Becoming myself, for you to love,
I replaced my sister in your heart.
Only to me you gave up your heart.
Born of sorrow, created from tears,
you gave me life and power to love.
No longer a man, but now daughter,
still I can feel your loving caress.
Oh, my sweet mother, I miss you so.
You are now gone, so I dry my tears,
for glad is my heart. I your daughter
still can caress, another to love.
http://www.english.upenn.edu/~afilreis/88/sestina.html
A blue eyed girl
with bashful smile
Her heart always on the prowl
For pretty men who say they care
and sales on fashion underwear
She lives her life behind the walls
Of fantasy and shopping malls
and looking good in darkened bars
where hungry eyes won't see the scars
She's desperate to conceal the past
from ardent love that never lasts
pretending she's just like the rest
hoping to pass another test
In this game of love and lose
be careful of how you choose
for bleeding hearts are hard to mend
and broken dreams become the trend
for blue eyed girls with bashful smiles
with histories that are reviled
by pretty men who said they cared
until your fragile soul was bared
Holly Mansfield