MOUTHLESS WONDER WOMAN: COLLECTIVE POETRY, ROUND 11
This week’s piece was inspired by a photo taken during a recent trip to Five Below. I knew this poem was going to be hard when the suggestions started rolling in. Most people provided light-hearted ideas, but I got stuck on the fact that this Wonder Woman mask has no mouth. I mean, how can a person speak his/her truth without a mouth?! In the end, I used 4 lines from followers, but mostly I went my own way.
Thanks to everyone who participated.
NOTE: If you’d like to get in on the fun, all you have to do is follow me on my Rasjacobson Art Facebook Page. On Wednesday mornings, I share a random photo and ask people to add a single line of poetry in the comments from which I attempt to cobble together a cohesive piece of writing.
At the Intersection of Snickers, Double Bubble & Halloween Blowups
Her task was to be good
To put on a happy face
The mask kept her performing
And at a breakneck pace, the mask
was there to keep people at bay,
it reassured everyone
she was OK, the mask she wore
since she was a child
reminded her to be nice,
agreeable, not to be wild.
To keep her legs closed,
put a smile on her face,
don’t slow down,
don’t be a disgrace, but
it’s hard mask up every day
& I’ve always been suspicious
of Wonder Woman, anyway
With her fancy silver bracelets
Her lasso of truth
she had stamina & speed
& the empathy of Ruth.
Armed with serum from
the Get-You-Drunk-Tree,
she had flight, healing powers
& telepathy.
A woman, they say,
is not as strong as a man.
A woman, they say,
Can’t do what he can.
But wearing a mask
is exhausting, indeed
It takes courage to remove it
And she took the lead.
Shoulder to shoulder with a marshmallow man,
She challenged him
to leave his mask at the door,
Asked him to open
a little bit more, but
he was an immovable object,
not up to the task
no flawless perfection
just struggles retold
for heroes are human
with shadows & fears
and even a plain girl
can be a Wonder Woman
after a few beers.
They said it wouldn’t last
And they were right
Women are built different
This is their plight.
And man, according to another,
named Freud, seemingly hardwired
to ignore & avoid,
her heart & her alter ego
on display, she softened
for a moment, then
was heard to say,
“Only love can save the world.
This is why I stay.”
So she went on pretending
Every damn day.