By plucking her petals, you do not gather the beauty of the flower.
--- Rabindranath Tagore
He cupped my pussy
when he taught me to drive;
countryside blurred at the windows,
and my skinny legs straddling the stick.
Quiet,
calm,
he talked me through the shifts.
"Good girl, good girl, that's it."
1st gear, 2nd gear, third.
All perfectly normal,
if normal's just a word.
For Susie's prompt at Real Toads
26 comments:
Chilling in its honesty.
I have few words in me this week, but your poem needs nothing but its own voice.
The quote adds a different element to this.
I guess it depends on who is doing the teaching. This made me feel it was an adult, maybe a dad -- and that is stomach turning. And to make them think it normal, all the worse.
Oh, yes! Chilling honesty it is indeed and I'm so glad my kids are grown and had a wonderful father!!!
Floored. Not what I expected. Brave and brilliant.
The economy of expression only emphasizes the stark brutality of this--I've always thought that quote rather insipid--you make a point with it that stabs like a dagger.
MZ--Our writing group has a phrase--HFFF
Holy Flying ___ Fish!
I saw a play about this called "How I learned to Drive." Your poem brings that hour and a half down to less than half a minute. I hate predators. Apparently normal is just a word.
Oh, my!
Children just don't know...
If this is true, it's horrendous. If it's not true, it's vile & horrendous. I speak from a place of much abuse in my family. Not exactly the stuff of poems, IMO. :-/
I'm with Susan; I hate predators. They are a particularly vile variety of evil. This poem gives the lie to all the soft-pedaling surrounding that Duggar asshole.
I think when normal is just a word anything disgusting becomes normal.. let the petals stay on the flower.
stark and terrible. stunning pen, MZ ~
A shocker - as it should and must be. (And I am reminded of my favourite bumper sticker: WRITERS have the last word.)
Raw and chilling.
Its been said but I can reiterate. I hate predators. That quote of Tagore's served to be quite an eye opener prefacing your poem. a brave frank write
Much love...
..
..
No words. You just have my awe in the power of your words.
Such a stark, painful piece. Your words are a window into the dark nightshade of abuse. Thanks so much for lending your voice to the challenge.
Men in the cups of their desire drone this way -- cooing not to a partner but unpetaling for a roar. Calmly. All normal. You highwire the violation perfectly.
Parents never knew about such abuses and the daughter was not telling in most cases and suffered in silence! Driving instructors do take advantage! Brave write MZ!
Hank
Hey MZ. Your lack of commentary here, except for the brief and rather noncommittal, last line, makes the poem more powerful. You manage to squeeze in telling details that make the scene very real despite the compression. Agh. I hate these people. k.
Spine chilling..!
A particularly brutal response to what was, on the surface, a very non threatening prompt. Possibly one of the more horrifying, but well-written and memorable, things I've read in awhile.
I'm with Rosemary. Writers have the last word. Bravely written, and strongly survived.
I'm with Rosemary. Writers have the last word. Bravely written, and strongly survived.
Whew. Powerful words here. The word "normal" is chilling.
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