when taking out a girl
it is important to pick her up from her house,
though it is acceptable to meet
at the agreed location.

at a cafe, you buy her coffee.
at a restaurant, you buy her dinner.
at a bar, you buy her drinks.
buy a lot of them too.
this is only fair as
she gets paid less than you do
more often than not.

you take her hand and
you kiss her.
you hold the door open for her.
she laughs at your jokes.
she dresses up, dolls up and
you tell her she's beautiful.
she can make the move,
but it's better if you do.
but she can, this isn't the dark ages.

this isn't the dark ages.
we can all choose to vote for
kang or kodos.
I do admit, i'd only first heard the word
misandrist a few months ago.
(even spell check doesn't think it's a word).

which reminds me:
you hit her
you **** her
you abuse her
you defile her.
you are the one
who writes this kind of bile.
but it's okay.
we don't blame the bramble
for strangling the forest.
we do blame you for being
the way you are,
but it's okay.
you and I know
your repulsive behaviour is just a
reflection of us.
and we can't rectify a reflection.

Tolstoy was a boy,
Ibsen was Henrik's son
Hardy had a father,
And see how well they've done.

Byron was a grandson,
And Wordsworth had a wet nurse,
Thoreau had a 2 to go,
Shakespeare a bad marriage,
Austen was a loner,
Poor Sylvia was a goner,
And see how well they've done.

Joyce had a ***** mind,
Fitzgerald liked to drink,
Richler liked to smoke,
And Wolfe enjoyed a ****,
And see how well they've done.

Fielding was a misogynist,
Wilde was a jailbird;
Virginia a misandrist,
And Kerouac a simple ****.
Yet see how well they've done.

Still with all their drawbacks,
Look how well they've done;
Like our old friend John,
We surely come un-done.

Men become boys in the cradle of my lap, comfortable
  as I twist the tufted curls behind their soft ears,
  and I wonder how easy it would be
to cleave them in two with a rusted fish hook.

A ripening sky-
dotted ambiguously with
molten fibers--

the sculptor’s daughter
And her flesh shavings.

How corrupted,
the christening angels:
the sunsets they cry, and contaminants they hide.
Our faux harvest of a blessed apple,
slaughtering the whole barrel,
Ripping out their cores.

Zipped through bursts of
squints and charcoal,
inky, starless
irises--

Dolly Misandrist; not human;
one after the other, sliced those sonnies up,
Knocked them down like chess pieces.

Perhaps she wanders, and flees-
filled with - fire -
spilling over with sin;
perching on her
Shattered masterpieces.

A flock of birds,
ringing around the carcass,
pounced to tear apart their evening meat--

they chased Dolly the damsel to the state border,
She was fenced in by boys and their
grandfather’s pistols.

Cleared her throat to plead one last swan song,
but was interrupted by the scraps
of bread they threw into the duck-pond.

The first boy shot her right between the chest-
“You shouldn’t have been such a **** Misandrist.”
Eyes-
“That’s for my brother.”
Head-
“Ladies don’t come first where you’re going.”
A speechless, frozen moment passed.
Blank stares. Open mouth. Nothing coming out.
“That *****.”

The trees scurry from beneath
the ocean of stars. Come Sunday morning,
the church pews are full.

Dear 13,
       If I had any advice for you it's this; get ready to fight. **** is coming around the corner for you real soon and I advise you to get more resilient. Guys are not out to get you. I know all the boys say ignorant **** to you, but get used to it until you're done high school. People are different when you leave high school, especially boys. Guys will want to talk to you (just on a friend level), so stop with your narrow minded misandrist thoughts.
       You're going to have to grow up quicker than most of your friends and that's okay. Don't spend so much time by yourself. Take the bus and train more to the city to visit your family. Get to know them now before you turn 17. Don't try to act tough, you are tough. High school is a joke. Spend more time in band and don't be afraid of being a band geek.
       You're serious, so loosen up. You only get to **** up a couple of times, and that's what the teen years are for. (Best to do it before you turn 18). Don't get too fired up and in a rage over high school. Most of the kids are *** holes who have no idea what the hell they're doing.
       Hug your mom more. She's one tough cookie and loves you beyond the stars. You're going to lose some friends, but it's okay because they'll come back to their senses and spend time with you again. Thrive off of heartbreak. Embrace it. You'll turn out to be a more loving person than most of your friends that closed themselves off when they got hurt.
        Start singing now! Start the lessons! You have potential and you will have a way better voice than starting at 16.
        Don't date in high school. I can tell you that not dating in high school was the best decision. With everything going on, it's best to wait.
        Don't worry, you're going to be able to graduate high school despite the financial situation. Mom is going to do all that she can to keep you in high school. (Don't worry, you'll be able to go to Community College and get your Associate's Degree on time as well).
        Open up more to your mom. Beg her to let you use transportation on your own. And by God, LEARN TO DRIVE AT 16. DO NOT WAIT UNTIL 18. The early driving experience will pay off (and you'll be less scared on the road). Don't be afraid of making mistakes. Take it with a grain of salt. It's better to make mistakes now than when you are 20.
        You'll get to travel a lot. MAKE SURE YOU BLOG ALL OF IT AT ONCE BEFORE YOU LOSE THE PICTURES AND CAN'T FIND THEM. :(
        All of your cousins are going to start having kids in 2 years and start dropping out of school. Don't judge them. Don't get too attached to the situation. Some of them mature and some of them do not. It's their life. Get closer with their kids. They are going to lose most of their friends when they get pregnant and they are going to need you. They'll appreciate it.
         Don't get a MySpace and throw out those cheap plastic gold hoop earrings immediately. Throw out all of that black make up ****. It makes you look whiter than Gandalf.
         Your teen years are not going to be like High School Musical or any other teen movie. It's going to be a rough patch, but be sure to laugh because it's really not that bad. Make sure you rise above your struggle because they will use you as an example as someone who made it.
         By the way, you get your dream car, you get to go to your dream university, and you get to move where your family is. Everything that you work for eventually comes to place.

With Love,
20