A Poem by Mel C. Thompson

Ode to a Moody Woman

 

I am “strong enough to be your man,”

but why would I do that to myself?
Enough strength could be gathered
to live with any kind of abuse, but why
transcend self-torture when avoiding it
is completely permissible? What kind

of masochism are we heaping praise upon here?

I am “man enough to be your man,” but
I am man enough to save my dignity too.
Have you ever had my well being foremost
in your mind? Not a soul believes you have.
This date is a pre-employment screening

for the worst job on earth. Even the executioner
is not as ashamed as the man who grovels for love.
And even the condemned hate the guillotine less
than they do a man who has died “the little death.”
It would take some kind of heroics to deal with
your legendary temper, your lack of integrity

and your continually unprincipled actions.

Those are the heroics of the living suicides.
I hold you accountable for all you say and do.
Sex appeal will never exempt you from
common courtesy. Your violence and stealing
aren't deep just because of your winning smile.

I am “strong enough to be your man,” but I think I'll pass.

I was man enough to get a vasectomy before you captured me.
Finally it is the so-called coward who is brave enough to see
exactly who the enemy is and flee before the onslaught comes.
Genetics has been more kind to you than you know.
If you were a man, you'd be too dull to even talk to.

Mel C. Thompson is a poet, photographer, musician, graphic artist, novelist and performance artist. His work, even purely visual work, is conceptual, meant to indicate meanings and messages beyond the words and images themselves. Whatever medium he uses, it's all conceptual art, all an attempt to say something about life and the land and the people in it.

Currently he is anthologized in the Poetry Salzburg Review, (University of Austria at Salzburg), Beatitude Golden Anniversary Issue (1959-2009), The Las Positas College Anthology and Poets From Hell (New American Underground Poetry). His works are also archived at numerous universities across the United States.