She samba's too well for her ageKnows all too well the gyration of hips
The lure of eyes
How to take a man to heaven
And she's only eleven
Imagine...
Tio's and Tia's at family gatherings
Encouraging her overgrown sways
For their sheer entertainment
The cousins
Who have twiddled their thumbs
While creating future perversions
Along her pathway
The father who will not believe her
The mother who will say she's overreacting
And the boys who will deceive her
She sits in my classroom
Shy and quiet
Two things she is farthest from
When i turn my back
Her cuss words
Are louder and more vulgar
Than the next girl
Tongue snaps faster
Bird Flips quicker
Her intrigue surpasses my own, at 21
Little boys watch her Bachata through their daydreams
I wonder if she knows i can see right through her...
Her voice timid and weak
Against the tremble of the railroad tracks
On the way home from our latest trip
"I...I...I've peed myself"
This is the persona, I know all too well
The middle school aged female
On the borderline of cracked nail polish
and partially glossed lips
Hands on hips
Popping bubblegum
Alluding hopscotch boxes
Learning to switch
Their clothes practically melted to skin
"Awwwing" mothers who find it cute
Fathers who feel as though they are too young to care
This is where it starts....
On the cusp of child and womanhood
Where intuition is barely existent
And guidance falters
The only training for them are coming from bra's
Second languages are beckoned into kisses
I bet the FRENCH teach their girls
To keep a croissant between their legs
Until they are old enough to get their own dough
The tug of war...
on the never-existent wedding bands
the over-used wombs
the dance between adolescence and cognisance
In particular,
the 2-step of those who've been forgotten
like the invisible hands
clenching my arms for balance
when the train abruptly stops
as her innocence will,
soon enough.
-riv-
-riv-
6 comments:
as a young woman who feels strongly about the plight of girls and young women today, this poem sooo resonated w/me. Real talk, it brought tears to my eyes.
"On the cusp of child and womanhood
Where intuition is barely existent
And guidance falters"
Damn! Riva you are so talented!
i agree riva you are very talented. gave me chill bumps.
Looks like the kiddies over in Hudson are starting to get to you again. This was a lovely poem. Try to keep your heart strong Eri. Show them how to overcome their burdens and escape their cycles. But be careful about bringing their emotional baggage home with you at night. We all lug around enough intangible carry-ons to weigh down the whole flight to our Happy Place. Keep the heart's sobs very ephemeral. I promise you'll be able to better help them that way.
"I bet the FRENCH teach their girls
To keep a croissant between their legs
Until they are old enough to get their own dough"
Amen!
As a mentor to the upcoming freshmen of my high school,this poem definitely relates to
the scenes I've witnessed by young girls.
Thankfully,there are other women, such as yourself,and young women who teach and put themselves in a position to be looked up to.
Hopefully our mannerism will shed light on them somehow.
hardly surprised Riva... another truth told. I expect nothing less from you. Beautiful insight.
This is what LiveLyricism is missin---and the picture is dope--i wouldnt mind you reposting this on the site----
www.LiveLyricism.tk
~wind blows
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