At Thirty-three
Hans Magnus Enzensberger
It was all so different from what she'd expected.
Always those rusting Volkswagens.
At one time she'd almost married a baker.
First she read Hesse, then Handke.
Now often she does crosswords in bed.
With her, men take no liberties.
For years she was a Trotskyist, but in her own way.
She's never handled a ration card.
When she thinks of Kampuchea she feels quite sick.
Her last lover, the professor, always wanted her to beat him.
Greenish batik dresses, always too wide for her.
Greenflies on her Sparmannia.
Really she wanted to paint, or emigrate.
Her thesis, Class Struggles in Ulm 1500
to 1512, and References to Them in Folksong:
Grants, beginnings, and a suitcase full of notes.
Sometimes her grandmother sends her money.
Tentative dances in her bathroom, little grimaces,
cucumber juice for hours in front of the mirror.
She says, whatever happens I shan't starve.
When she weeps she looks nineteen.
Hans Magnus Enzensberger
It was all so different from what she'd expected.
Always those rusting Volkswagens.
At one time she'd almost married a baker.
First she read Hesse, then Handke.
Now often she does crosswords in bed.
With her, men take no liberties.
For years she was a Trotskyist, but in her own way.
She's never handled a ration card.
When she thinks of Kampuchea she feels quite sick.
Her last lover, the professor, always wanted her to beat him.
Greenish batik dresses, always too wide for her.
Greenflies on her Sparmannia.
Really she wanted to paint, or emigrate.
Her thesis, Class Struggles in Ulm 1500
to 1512, and References to Them in Folksong:
Grants, beginnings, and a suitcase full of notes.
Sometimes her grandmother sends her money.
Tentative dances in her bathroom, little grimaces,
cucumber juice for hours in front of the mirror.
She says, whatever happens I shan't starve.
When she weeps she looks nineteen.
At Twenty-Six
It was all so close to what she'd expected, really.
That one time she almost devirginized against a married
birdwatcher failed so she tried again: gyrated for a Latin
tap dancer,uncorked for a vineyard tour guide, drew
her V-card for a board game designer, do not pass go,
tap dancer,uncorked for a vineyard tour guide, drew
her V-card for a board game designer, do not pass go,
do not collect 200 dollars. Now she makes her bed
with word searches and Sudoku puzzles. She hoards
magazine articles on motorcycle repair, fly fishing,
and Call of Duty, then folds them in beside tagged lingerie:
a blue-ribboned baby doll, a chained and zippered bustier,
a peignore. Her walls shout techniques for proper tongue
flicking, hand cupping, the pressure of a pleasurable bite.
She's measured her age in quarter-years since she was eleven
and when she thinks of her last date, the swimsuit model
who asked her to hold his head underwater while he hooked
magazine articles on motorcycle repair, fly fishing,
and Call of Duty, then folds them in beside tagged lingerie:
a blue-ribboned baby doll, a chained and zippered bustier,
a peignore. Her walls shout techniques for proper tongue
flicking, hand cupping, the pressure of a pleasurable bite.
She's measured her age in quarter-years since she was eleven
and when she thinks of her last date, the swimsuit model
who asked her to hold his head underwater while he hooked
his pinkie behind her teeth, she wilts at the opportunity she refused.
Really, she wanted to submerge lobsters for dinner and place sliced
tomatoes on his tongue. She could read him her latest draft Cracking Open
a Suitcase in Gatsby’s Powder Room and tell him that, sometimes, her
gardener plants for the wrong season. She would show him her harmless history:
gardener plants for the wrong season. She would show him her harmless history:
the hula dancing, the sign language, maybe the tattoo of a Joker
juggling a rifle and a curling iron nestled against her spine and never
mention the men’s names, only the learned hobbies.
juggling a rifle and a curling iron nestled against her spine and never
mention the men’s names, only the learned hobbies.
Jenna,
ReplyDeleteI like this improvisation, mainly because of all the strange material. I especially enjoy the first couple of line at the beginning, but I'm not sure that "do not pass go, / do not collect 200 dollars" works. I see where you've gotten the idea, and I think it's quirky, but it's a little too cheesy. The line seems a discredit to the previous lines. Nonetheless, I think an interesting avenue to consider (for the revision/expansion) would lie in the speaker's past relationships. There seems a recurrent pattern/mention of past dates and relationships with men-all of which failed or didn't pan out (for whatever reason)--that are not subject or limited to a specific type, or that the speaker has any regard for standards, or maybe she does? That's one of the more interesting things I've found through the piece. So, I really think you should try and create a revision out of this material that attempts to further build on and create this speaker, at twenty-six, according to her past relationships. Pretty cool, or at least I think so anyway. ha.