Odd, Not Even

Imagine a world where little girls love only pink. 
The walls of their bedrooms are colored
like cotton candy and the bedspreads
have Disney princesses in rosy dresses
and pink ballet slippers. Their nails are bubble
gum and awards are given for those whose
have the most sparkles and are the glossiest. 
Their books are covered with pink paper
and their desks have pink pencils and 
their uniforms have shirts in sunset pink. 
They can be anything they want as long 
they wear pink while doing it- if they play 
sports, their sneakers have little pink pom-poms;
if they become doctors, their earrings are pink.
They eat off plates painted with peonies
and carnations, drinking from glasses cut
to resemble rose quartz. Even their cats
wear pink rhinestone studded collars while
languishing like bored queens in a sea of
so much froth and lace and indolence. 
Now place into this world a little girl who just
walked in out of the fields carrying a veritable
rainbow of non-pink conforming wildflowers,
with mud on her knees and dirt under her nails,
and imagine, just imagine, if her favorite
color- were blue.

Author's Note

written for poetry club Casa los Altos, translated from my original in Spanish

Reviews

[emmajoy]

' Now place into this world a little girl who just - walked in out of the fields carrying a veritable rainbow of non-pink conforming wildflowers, - with mud on her knees and .. .. '

This is what makes you, YOU! You can rip the core out of something, somebody, a group or community and - make each and every spectator/reviewer, sit bolt upright. Here you've painted space with a stayfast white and..THEN, dear Lord, having taken us on a seemingly ordinary journey across a great expanse, ONLY to upturn vat after vat of blood red thought onto a tragic unknown.

' .. and imagine, just imagine, '

R. your writing has always touched me - one way or another.. But this has left its mark. It's so part of present society, so part of the agonies that shadow gender. You've always thought and helped folk unselfishly and forgotten your own needs. You always will. Bless you. Hugs and respect

[Jason Shadows]

Such power involved. I Like this one. Great write.

[Tony]

A non-conformist appears dirty, but they spread a rainbow of flowers or ideas across a blue sky.

[mattavelli]

Hey now, blue is for boys, can't have that. The way things are marketed can be oppressive, Hu? Haha
Behaviors magnified and cloned, spread til they're normalized and expected; thoughts bounded in idioms and slogans, expression and imagination atrophied, perspective replaced with conformity; and the pleasant mind is always consuming, and like omg, pink is so 1993. I think a lot of people are exhausted, suffering information overload; and maybe these pink girls are eves in a new pixilated eden, soon to be plowed under for some fantastic blue creation. Change is the only constant and the new music sucks. I think there is beauty in patterns, but too much is too much.(like monorhyme poetry) Thank you for your thoughtful poem.

[Gretchen D'Huyvetter Co..]

I felt as if I was being bombarded by pink in your various descriptions of the objects of a child's life - a powerful tool. Also, I love the title.

[Phill Oz O'fee]

No room for the 'Marimacho' then - what a sad world it would be if gender stereotyping dominated someone's lifestyle and existence - nice write, but a scary notion... :-)

[kentuck14]

Marie,
An interesting concept. Does this describe you?