Author: Elizabeth Maynard

Nevertheless

You can count on me:
I have already identified
seven reasons
we cannot love each other

Of course you are too young
and drink too much
and we might argue about 
how rarely you'll call

The girlfriend back home
is probably lovely
though the distance
will soon separate you

But what I really mean
is my fragile heart
cannot take even a moment more
disappointment

It would be too much
to be loved too little

Savior

We manage fear with fantasy
we will be saved
someone will right these wrongs
come to the rescue
give us our due

This gets us through the days
weeks, months, years
of passivity and pain
it is too much, we think
to take responsibility for ourselves

In Defense of Other Women

She is tired
more tired than you can imagine
unless you are a good man
though those are few on the ground

She is tired of being told
she is too loud, too sad, too angry
outworn from seeing herself
too fat, too thin, too pale, too dark

Always too much or not enough
the date who talks over her
the family friend who runs his
unwelcome hand along her thigh

Exhausted from the job she seeks
to care for herself, her children
but I'm sorry we can't hire you
because we don't want a woman

She is tired of disappointment
chasing down hope
and telling herself she will find a way
if she never gets what she needs