virus: Somethings Missing

Reed Konsler (konsler@ascat.harvard.edu)
Tue, 15 Jul 1997 10:55:01 -0400 (EDT)


>Date: Mon, 14 Jul 1997 20:43:51 -0700 (PDT)
>From: Michelle Lee Gendvil <shellybe@gladstone.uoregon.edu>

> Here's a few female thoughts to keep the balance.
> Often when a female admires a hyper-educated,
> "egotistic" male, the male will use his knowledge and
> overconfidence as a means of seducing the female. The most discouraging
> part is when the female elaborates on something she
> knows a lot about, the man
> really doesn't seem to give a shit. His eyes glaze over and he
> somehow manages to manipulate the topic of conversation to a subject
> he knows "all" about. If the female
> counterpart argues a point made by the male counterpart, she
> is wrong because
>
> male always get final word.
>
>
> The result?
> A bunch of women who struggle to be (in the physical sense) the
> "___ est" (fill in the blank with adjective describing an
> attractive female). All because females didn't get enough
> attention from their fathers. I know its not man's fault. Its the
> result of an outdated meme that is deeply ingrained in our society.
>
> There's a
> little Ying for the palate.:>
> - Michelle Gendvil

I want to give encouragement here, without seeming to usurp the space.
This is my attempt:

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THE SLANT

The slant
a building settling
around me my
figure female
framed crookedly
in the threshhold
of the room
door scraping floor
boards with every opening
carving a rough history
of bedroom scenes
the plot
had to follow
the text
obscured
in the folds of the sheets
slowly gathering the stains
of seasons
spent lying there
red and brown
like leaves fallen
the colors
of and eternal cycle
fading with the
wash cycle
and the rinse cycle
again an un-
familiar smell
like my name misspelled
or mispoken
a cycle broken

The sound
of them strong
stalking talking
about their prey
like the way
hammer meets nail
pounding
they say
pounding
out the rhythms
of attraction
like a woman
was a drum
like a body
was a weapon
like there was something
more they wanted
than the journey
like it was owed
to them
steel toed they walk
and I'm wondering why
this fear of men
maybe it's cuz I'm hungry
and like a baby
I'm dependent on them
to feed me

i am a work in progress
dressed in the fabric
of a world unfolding
offering the intricate
patterns of questions
rhythms that never
come clean
and strengths
that you still
haven't seen.

--Ani Difranco
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Avaliable, if you want the full effect, on the album "like I said" (1993)

Righteous Babe Records
p.o.box 95 elicott station
buffalo, ny 14205

or call

1-800-ON-HER-OWN (664-3769)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Highly recommended, especially for all of you
repressing your female aspect. ;-)

Reed

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Reed Konsler konsler@ascat.harvard.edu
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