Prevention

There was no such thing as co-ed dorms;

If we wanted to walk to class together I’d

Wait outside in the snow, looking up four stories

To see if I could catch a glimpse of you

For the first time in twelve hours.

There was no room in the dorms

For budding sexuality. We were moved

To less orthodox ways of expressing  passion:  visiting

Your pastor for advice, praying together, Bible studies

On your bed during visiting hours- we never really did

Learn how to communicate.

There were visiting hours but we didn’t like anyone else

So we escaped. The campus was so small; there was so little

To explore. We hid on the playground, spied on holier couples

Who stayed outside of the twisting slide, bundled in jackets,

Hands in full view. We’d return to our separate dorms at ten,

Unwilling to admit we were unsatisfied.

Then, there was no way to stop you

From buying that ring. Perhaps if we had shared a room,

Seen the clothes on your floor, the books on mine;

Perhaps if we had shared chores, a bed, even a dog, you really

Would have heard me when I said, “I don’t want to get married.

Not to you, not now, not ever.”

Inspired by Nicole Homer

Legend

Our heritage is full of women rebelling:

First Lilith, then Eve, who refused to fit the mold

In which she was cast: the antidote for Lilith, a model obedient

Wife, now blamed for original sin because she couldn’t conform.

Ruth defied convention when she married a foreigner and was

Rewarded with a place on the family tree of David; Brave Rahab’s

Perceived sexual trespasses didn’t stop her from saving.

Some say Jezebel was only depicted as evil because she dared reign over a man;

The adulteress still exists as a metaphor for Christian treatment of sin.

Even Mary, the mother of Jesus, became pregnant  before she was married-

We’ve built a legend of fear around what was good enough for God and his son.

I was raised with these women as role models, with the

Underlying message that what is scorned by society 

Is good enough for the being that society worships. I refuse,

I will not, hold myself to lower standards. I can

Save the world, be a role model, bring good into the world, I can!

Without the same refrains: Get married, have children,

But wait until you get married, settle down, cover your skin,

Protect yourself, someday you will want children- I

Do not fit this mold, I cannot limit myself to convention, I

Am not afraid of the stones that may be cast when I

Am middle aged and still unmarried, sleeping contentedly

In a bachelor’s life. I, too, am a legend, a myth in the making.

This poem jumped off from here.