Society's Desire
#1
Society's Desire

The perfect girl,
the girl I never was.
An adorable baby
who giggles and shrieks at all things pink,
who twirls and dances with barbie dolls
and dreams of becoming a princess.
Daddy’s little girl
bouncing in a deep purple velvet dress.
Crawling out from beneath her dress,
perfect white tights contrast with black, shiny shoes.
A single silver buckle confines innocence
and atop her head, a proportionate white bow holds up
society’s desire.

The perfect girl,
the girl I will never be.
Long, soft, blonde hair that waves with every whisper of wind,
hair so blonde
it blinds.
Brilliant blues eyes that sparkle with every white smile,
eyes as blue as the sea
that suffocates.
A body as tan as it is thin,
a body so tan
it burns
into a body so thin
it collapses
into desolate destruction.

Death thrives
in such destruction.
Death lives
in the wasteland where the skeletons of women who have finally given up
snap beneath every step
and resentful ashes rise from the earth,
closing my throat,
creeping into my lungs,
and whispering sweet promises to be fulfilled if only I would join them.
Cries for help are engulfed by the silence
of slight winds that raise hair as flesh crawls.

Society desires the girl I hate myself for not being.
Words like rocks
shatter glass
break me
smash mirrors
ripping pictures of my forced smile
surrounded by friends and family
into shreds.
I am running out of strength to put myself back together,
but I continue to try
and try
and try
without ever tasting success so sweet my mouth waters at the thought.

Instead, it is the putrid taste of failure
so sour it puckers my face
that assaults my taste buds on a daily basis.
Angry black nails retaliate,
tearing into my thin, all too white flesh
until red life flows,
finally free.
Rough, but subtle scars mark the worst of times.
The times when endless tears run to escape
feelings of self-loathing and disgust.
The times when endless tears run to escape
society’s desire.

Walking down an empty suburban street,
not even a year ago,
uncomfortable in my own skin.
Wanting nothing more than to leave my mark
on the quaint town that I grew up in.
Where birch trees guard the sidewalk from speeding cars,
where everybody knows everybody and yet,
I feel completely alone.
Muffled laughter floats like soft music
from the glowing houses of happy families.
Dark crevices divide the sidewalk
as gender divides the world.
My foot lands on every crack
in hopes that one day,
I can shrivel into nothing
and slip, unnoticed, into the infinite void.
Cold air wraps around my insecurities.
Teeth chatter and fear talks back.
It stalks my every rushed and vulnerable step.
Look in front of me,
look behind me,
right
left
right again.
Wrong.

Smiles and lies have been the key to my façade,
to my disguise necessary to survive.
No one can hear the truth,
no one will listen.
But words spill onto paper for the first time,
to speak my truths
and to break my silences
without the overwhelming fear that
beats my heart and pumps my blood.
My silences have consumed me for too long
and I have not much time left.
To exist like this is death.

You have witnessed a moment,
a moment in which I have released the fear of being seen.
See me.
Listen to me.
I am not society’s desire,
but I am me.
I will raise my children as I wish someone had raised me:
to be strong and independent,
to be benevolent and passionate,
to be who you want to be inside and out,
to be a woman.
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#2
Over-all a decent entry, I'm really having trouble with the end of the second stanza, it doesn't quite flow and it doesn't really make sense. but a great read indeed
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#3
Hi Sam33lynn,
This was powerful stuff, your first poem on here I see.
Right from the start I felt sucked into this whirlwind of a poem, I like the style of your writing, it is very engaging and inclusive and I was compelled to keep on reading. I like the passion in this and some lines were excellent such as, "and atop her head, a proportionate white bow holds up society’s desire." very good image. Also the line "Where birch trees guard the sidewalk from speeding cars," I like for it's particular detail of "birch trees" whereas many would of just said trees.
So many other good images which I haven't got room to mention them all, but stanza three is one that stands out as very powerful.
I agree with the previous comment that stanza two seems to get a bit tangled towards the end of it. But all in all good powerful stuff, that ends in a positive way. That was my fear as I was reading, that it would just be an angry rant that would consume itself but you avoided the "oh woe is me" self pity ending in a good way.
Good stuff, I look forward to reading more of your poetry.
Thanks for the read.
AR
feedback award wae aye man ye radgie
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#4
I like it when I poem can be fairly long, and keep me interested. I enjoyed your wording in several places, "Words like rocks/shatter glass/break me/smash mirrors/ripping pictures of my forced smile/surrounded by friends and family/into shreds." Especially. And then "But words spill onto paper for the first time, to speak my truths and to break my silences" That feels like you're talking about this very piece, and the epic feel it has too it makes me think this is either your very first, or the first one you're really proud of. I liked it a lot, give us moar!
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#5
(05-09-2013, 08:17 AM)ambrosial revelation Wrote:  Hi Sam33lynn,
This was powerful stuff, your first poem on here I see.
Right from the start I felt sucked into this whirlwind of a poem, I like the style of your writing, it is very engaging and inclusive and I was compelled to keep on reading. I like the passion in this and some lines were excellent such as, "and atop her head, a proportionate white bow holds up society’s desire." very good image. Also the line "Where birch trees guard the sidewalk from speeding cars," I like for it's particular detail of "birch trees" whereas many would of just said trees.
So many other good images which I haven't got room to mention them all, but stanza three is one that stands out as very powerful.
I agree with the previous comment that stanza two seems to get a bit tangled towards the end of it. But all in all good powerful stuff, that ends in a positive way. That was my fear as I was reading, that it would just be an angry rant that would consume itself but you avoided the "oh woe is me" self pity ending in a good way.
Good stuff, I look forward to reading more of your poetry.
Thanks for the read.
AR

wow, thanks for the feedback! Smile I think I will try to see if I can make the second stanza make a little bit more sense.
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#6
This poem is so real, so imaginative and full of emotion. I adore it. I have read it several times, and every time it has the same, strong impact on me. I can relate to the poem at a personal level, and with the vivid descriptions, it was almost like I was there.
You have so many beautiful lines: 'and atop her head, a proportionate white bow holds up society’s desire.' 'right left right again. Wrong.' 'Dark crevices divide the sidewalk as gender divides the world.' 'Where birch trees guard the sidewalk from speeding cars' just to name a few. Very clever stuff. I don't really have any criticism, I just want to say thank you for a refreshingly different poem Smile
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#7
I have a question now. How do you feel about yourself, after having written all that down?

I love the imagery. The descriptions are well written, that I can almost feel what it's like to be inside the girl's head. How she thinks and feels.

It wasn't just us that this poem was made for. I'd like to think it was created specifically for yourself. In a way you saw what you had not become and at the end of the poem you realize it doesn't quite matter what you didn't become, because you finally realized that you are yourself, and you are, which can go without saying, perfect.
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