The Looking Glass
Getting a man to love you is easy
Only be honest about your wants as
Woman.
Stand nude before the glass with him
So that he sees himself the stronger one
And believes it so, and you so much more
Softer, younger, lovelier.
Admit your
Admiration. Notice the perfection
Of his limbs, his eyes reddening under
The shower, the shy walk across the bathroom floor,
Dropping towels, and the jerky way he
Urinates.
All the fond details that make
Him male and your only man. Gift him all,
Gift him what makes you woman, the scent of
Long hair, the musk of sweat between the breasts,
The warm shock of menstrual blood, and all your
Endless female hungers.
Oh yes, getting
A man to love is easy, but living
Without him afterwards may have to be
Faced. A living without life when you move
Around, meeting strangers, with your eyes that
Gave up their search, with ears that hear only
His last voice calling out your name and your
Body which once under his touch had gleamed
Like burnished brass, now drab and destitute.
-- Kamala Das
This blog has been witness to my journey, I`ve cried, I`ve laughed, but, mostly I`ve LIVED through this blog.
3 comments:
hey..!this is one of my favourite poems..!..:-)
the first time i read kamala das, was when i was a student of english lit.( i like to believe that i still am...)
few of the students were disgusted and wonderered how r male prof would teach this poem....i was amazed at the sheer boldeness of the poet...
but the prof. explained the poem so beautifully....he brought out the pain and hopelessness, the deep sense of self- loath that a woman might face if she uses her physical self to express her love...
MEN AND WOMEN ARE DIFFERENT! THERES NO DOUBT ABOUT THAT!
ecstatic and sad at the same time! i agree... men and women are different... the beauty is in the fact that they admire different thins abt each other... wht makes their emotions different though?
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