Poetic Prose

The interest, freeing thing about poetry is that it is short enough to be a snapshot, a glimpse at a particular moment. And it can be limited to that moment. An emotional caption. Minutes later, the emotions may change, the perspective different. That's what I try to do - I try to capture how I felt at the time the events occurred. Was I correct, justified, right in how I felt - well that's irrelevant. It isn't about whats right and wrong, its just about captureing it and reflecting upon it.

I posted a poem about an argument I had with a group of young ladies when I was in my late teens, early twenties. I was the girlfriend who spent the most time at the house with my man. Subsequently, I spent the most time with their boyfriends. The long and short of it is that one of the boyfriends started kickin it to my homegirl. I was uncomfortable with it, I hadn't expected it. I didn't like it. I didn't think he was that much of a dog, but he proved me wrong. So, when his girlfriend found out, guess who she was upset with. Me. She said I should have told her, I should have brought an end to it. A few months later something similar happened with another guy (although he wasn't cheating with a friend of mine). But when his official girlfriend showed up at the house unannounced he requested I take the new girlfriend home, so she wouldn't be in the middle of the drama. Not taking sides, I agreed to get her out of there and drive her home. Oh boy, did that cause a stink. The next thing I knew, I was the traitor, the girl with no respect for womanhood and woman bonds.

I posted a poem about it called The Traitor. At the time, I remember feeling oblivious to their emotion. I liked them well enough, but I am not the type to get all in peoples business or go on a moral rant about what someone else should be doing. I am too busy trying to make sure my life is right, my business is in order, I am living by some code of deceny.

So the poem I wrote sounds flippant, dismissive. Although, after the immediate confrontation, and some years later, I didn't feel so blase about it. I actually felt very bad that I was perceived that way, that I chose the boys friendship over their girlfriends. But, in the moment the poem attempted to capture, I didn't feel that I owed those girls anything....