STOCKHOLM 1974.A Poem by Terry CollettA COUPLE IN STOCKHOLM IN 1974 AND MEN'S MAGAZINES.Saw you go in those sex shops in Stockholm, she says. We sit outside a café in Oslo drinking coffee and eating creams cakes. Just looking at the books. Why? What so good about the b*****s in the books and not us other girls? I sip the coffee and light up a cigarette from a pack; she takes one, too, and looks at me. It's a matter of posing. Posing? Yes, how they pose. She frowns, sips her coffee. We can pose like they do; it's more than that. I study her features, the eyes focusing, the lips part open, her hair curly and tight. It's the way they look at you from the photographs. How do they look? Haven't you seen those kinds of books or mags? Why would I? Curiosity? Never looked. I inhale cigarette smoke. I saw my first girly mag when I was at high school, when a friend brought one to school, and I thought: what the heck's that? Don't you find it belittles women? Some I saw weren't belittled any place. I mean as a sexual gender, Dalya says, grabbing me with her eyes. No, it's just dames posing in the nude or in skimpy gear showing what God gave them, I say. It cheapens women; makes them objects for men to pore over with their eyes and see as just that: objects, she says. I drain my coffee and put the cup down. Another coffee? No, I’ve not done with this one. I raise a hand and a waitress comes and I order another coffee; the waitress walks off, her black dressed a*s, swaying. What was it you were saying? © 2015 Terry Collett |
StatsAuthorTerry CollettUnited KingdomAboutTerry Collett has been writing since 1971 and published on and off since 1972. He has written poems, plays, and short stories. He is married with eight children and eight grandchildren. on January 27t.. more..Writing
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