circumstance

she found herself to be
a victim of circumstance
lamenting an age
of mediocrity
an age in which
quantity mattered
more than quality
where reality
was scripted and sold
to the highest bidder
where taste and culture
had become nothing
more than a whore
spreading her legs
for Madison avenue

museums were her church
broadway her choir
confession held
beneath the smoky lights
of a beatnik bookstore
where poets engraved
the lining of her soul
with words of painful beauty
her bibles were many
knowledge her communion
hidden between the pages
of novels and travelogues
where her heart
found reasons to soar

in a world of plastic
face lifts and implants
where the uniqueness
of imperfections
was being swept away
by a society obsessed
with reflections
found in the funhouse
mirror of the corner boutique
she lived a simple life
a touch of makeup
simple, elegant clothing
designed to be practical
not for the runway lights
but for the office lights


on girls nights out
she meets various guys
in restaurants dance clubs
and the like
she has heard the same lines
over and over
I want a woman who is real
who can carry a conversation
who will fight me for
the Sunday crossword puzzle
none of these plastic
look at me Barbie dolls
a woman of substance
they take her number
but never call

often times
their paths will cross
she will hear them
chatting with the boys
eyes in their beer
tongues on the floor
watching the airhead parade
passing by
proving her right once again
most men want eye candy
a brainless lover
to satisfy their primal urges
not a woman
who would challenge them
not a woman
who would equal them
no they only wanted a woman
who would stroke they’re
ego all night long

it had taken many years
more broken hearts
than she could count
the lesson was learned
and filed away
destiny had placed
her on this shallow world
for reason only
fate would understand
never to be loved
only to be ignored
for being more
than eye candy
for the sweet tooth
of man