HANDS OFF! (photomorph) & ON RATTLING THE BARS OF THE CAGE (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

ON RATTLING THE BARS OF THE CAGE

As I wake, I can't shake the case I have against
myself though I know it's trumped up, this time quite
literally given the man involved was our President Elect:

He and I and several business cronies of his are on the
top floor of a New York City office building,
the floor to ceiling windows affording a view
they've all become so familiar with as not to see,
but one that still dazzles me.

I'm dressed very alluringly, to say the least,
a way I never dress but have wanted to try
ever since I got so slim; in a way, to show off
the results of all my hard work. The centerpiece
of the black and white outfit: a sleek black
strapless bustier that reveals my shoulders,
arms, and waistline in a graceful way
for the first time in several decades.

I am mildly nervous about attracting male attention
but ready to handle it tactfully and, who knows,
I may actually draw the interest of a man
that I want to get to know.

Then he steps up and without any
hesitation whatsoever starts loudly and crudely
commenting on my "sexy" looks; I step back,
he steps up to me again; I say sternly and right into
his leering face "No!" True to form, he doesn't stop
but ups the ante by trying to pull me into a kiss.

I shove him away and repeat "No!" even louder
as fear starts to rise alongside the anger.
The other men around studiously ignore my struggle
and I'm as angry at and fearful of them as him.

Yet a deep part of me, one I'd thought long liberated,
feels I'm to blame, whispering: This is exactly why you
never dress this way, not even now when you're slim
and it looks good on you. Have you forgotten what you
learned as a child that if you really want to be safe
don't rattle the bars of your cage. Don't do anything
to get the keepers' predatory attention.


[free verse poem on a dream of 11-28-16. I've actually been waiting for a Trump dream, given my history of childhood (and later) sexual abuse and harassment. So the main player in this dream was not a surprise. Nor is the fear that's referenced. However, that I still feel responsible at some deep level for having been abused, is. Photomorph "Hands Off!" (11-8-16 003v2bd) by Roswila]

PLEASE NOTE: in most browsers you can click on the above image for a larger version. Also, the photo accompanying a post is not necessarily meant to illustrate it, but to reflect some small, even slant aspect of the verse, similar to Japanese haiga (illustrated haiku).

There are many other sorts of posts on this blog. I indicate which are about or influenced by dreams. Some non dream focused posts are book reviews, "regular" poems (some by other writers), scifaiku, writing exercises, Tarot haiku, photos, haiga, and so on. However, most of those are in much older posts. There's a listing by month going back to early 2006, at the end of the sidebar.

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until next time, keep dreaming,

[a/k/a Patricia Kelly]
**** If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or poems, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”). Roswila's other blog (dedicated to her photos only, i.e. no poetry or other writing; daily post); TRYING TO HOLD A BOX OF LIGHT.