My Universe Changed
The 1960s framed my teenage years, adding cultural chaos to that of my adolescence. We've all been there to some extent. This is my story. Share yours in the comments if you want.
Tomboy
Wind whips hair in my eyes
My bicycle rattles and wobbles
Between my dungareed legs
I fly over mounds of dirt left
By bulldozers clearing the field
Of weeds all shapes and colors
For a parking lot for a Mormon
Ward house that stands on the hill
Its steeple higher than my school.
I carve a trail over these bumps
Knowing my marks will disappear
Once the tarry pavement dries
Lines are drawn with precision
To place each car in a perfect row.
My muscles strain as I pump
The pedals, racing faster
Than the boys behind me
Shouting for me to slow down
Which I will never do for any of them.
Tree House
My legs wrap around
immense limbs
hug the sap-filled rings
that record the ages.
Bedded in the grass below
lovers wallow in verdant herbs
pungent earth mixes
with sweet blossoms
bees harbor honeycombs
beneath fallen wood.
I straddle boards nailed in place
on the eve of my maidenhood.
My legs swing open to grasp
raw bark between them.
One full summer nurtured
tomboy dreams.
The next promised dances
with callow boys
who once followed my bicycle
over hillside trails
or swung across streams
on rope swings.
Someday they will lead me
to lay in grass and wildflowers
under the tree house.
My universe changed …
When I reached thirteen
I learned that boys did not grow up
to be knights in shining armor.
Their manhood urgent,
faces blurred by a hint of hair,
their eyes pierced through the armor
of my fairytale childhood.
A blade of fear sliced through me.
These were no longer my buddies
Who climbed trees and raced bikes
As my hair flew in the wind.
Other women dictated
Goals I must attain.
Their moral codes explained
through tightened lips
that warned me of the evils
of desire.
In time I realized the truth
Rules were meant to be broken.
It would have to be that way
If I were ever to live and breathe
And walk with the wisdom of Eve
And the spark of Lilith.
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"...the boys behind me shouting for me to slow down, which I will never do for any of them." A beautiful resolve that got tweaked just a little in adolescence. As is natural. The second piece is so breath-taking, so powerful, I wouldn't know where to begin commenting. I am keeping this one to learn from, Sue. ( BTW: "Someday they will lead me to lay in grass.." Change to: lead me to lie?)
Still Wow!