The Men are
Surprised
“There are no words in the English language/I
could scream to drown you out” – Phoebe Bridgers
The men are
surprised
and sad
they are
unsure what to do
with the
information
they are
reading
how someone
they love
could do so bad,
how someone
whose art they appreciate
could sink his
teeth
into the women
who made the mistake of
being near him.
How he could
dangle the promise of fame
and music
making before young girls
full of talent
and then pull
it away
and break them
and leave them
broken.
Leave them so
they never want to make art again.
The good men
are surprised
and angry
so very angry
for being fooled.
They are also
angry because they don’t know what to do now.
Will they
still be good men
if they listen
to the music of a bad man?
What does it
say about them?
But the women
nod.
We know better
than to trust
that the men
who make art
that sings the
songs that live in our hearts.
We know
better.
The good men
are surprised
and they want
to know
how
How do the women
know not to trust?
How do they
know that the beloved artists is bad?
What did he do
or say to make it so clear?
And the women
smile and
think about
intuition
the way we
have learned
like wolves
when to run
and the women
say
because the
men that make art
that live in
our hearts
are also
and always
still
men.
--Ally Malinenko
No comments:
Post a Comment