A Woman Should Have

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
enough money within her control to move out
and rent a place of her own,
even if she never wants to or needs to...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
something perfect to wear if the employer,
or date of her dreams wants to see her in an hour...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
a youth she's content to leave behind....

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
a past juicy enough that she's looking forward toretelling it in her old age....

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE .....
a set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and a black lace bra...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
one friend who always makes her laugh...
and one who lets her cry...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ....
a good piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in her family...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
eight matching plates, wine glasses with stems, and a recipe for a meal, that will make her guests feel honored...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
a feeling of control over her destiny...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
how to fall in love without losing herself..

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
how to quit a job,
break up with a lover,
and confront a friend without;
ruining the friendship...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
when to try harder...
and WHEN TO WALK AWAY...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
that she can't change the length of her calves,
the width of her hips,
or the nature of her parents..

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
that her childhood may not have been perfect...
but its over...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
what she would and wouldn't do for love or more...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
how to live alone...
even if she doesn't like it...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW..
whom she can trust,
whom she can't,
and why she shouldn't take it personally...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
where to go...
be it to her best friend's kitchen table..
or a charming inn in the woods...
when her soul needs soothing...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
what she can and can't accomplish in a day...
a month...
and a year...

By Maya Angelou

The Doubt's Benefit

"It looks like a spacesuit from space!"
may seem a vapid comment
from one of the models of Project Runway,

but maybe she meant the aliens' suits,
which would nullify her redundancy.

Let's give her the benefit of the doubt.
She must have meant those suits
that create vacuums in the triple-bubble helmets.
The ones with exo-skeletal legs
to prevent the crush of gravity.

The earth-suit, if you will.
They may be all around us;
the lamp posts lining the street
or the cell-phone towers,
or maybe that new sculpture outside the library.

They can stand still for years
studying our faces,
watching little boys play baseball,
cringing as the fly balls
threaten their vacuum seals.

Train Mouse

Why does the train screech along its tracks
in some stretches, but not others?
Is there a piece of metal sticking out from its side,
brushing the concrete walls of the tunnel?
A young boy dragging a stick
along a chain link fence?

Or is it just the brakes
squeezing the rail with gritted teeth?
A mechanic would certainly not
like the sound of that.
But he would like the sound
of the cash-register ka-ching
as the driver opened his wallet.

Most train-riders seem not to notice.
My ears shudder all the way to my jaw.
Come to think of it,
the other day I saw a man
wearing industrial soundproof earmuffs
while reading his book next to the window.

Clever, I thought,
but he looks like a giant mouse.
And I know what the muffs are
because I wore them into the engineroom,
the grinding belly of the ship.

But the muff-uneducated masses probably wonder
'Who's the fool in the mouse-ears?"
(or maybe bear ears)

But then again,
when the train cars drag
against the wall or rail,
he hears a muffled squeal.
A happy little pig running in circles
or a violin being tuned.
And when I realize that,
the mouse-jokes are worth it.

blah

NPR drones in my apartment
so tired, yet more dishes to do
a cyclical routine we wait to slow down
so we can breath and do those things
on that list
but the time never comes
where is a new house
a new home?
I don't know
where is husband?
on his way

Directions

As you leave the L'Enfant Plaza station,
you will pass under an astronaut wall hanging,
slightly different with each exit.

You want the one with the open mask,
and where you might think there would be a man's face,
there is a dog peaking out of the helmet.

Yes, a dog.
Well, he doesn't look uncomfortable,
but it is a human spacesuit
and normally, dogs don't like being suspended.
I imagine the dog is floating in space
as if he were on hind legs,
occasionally kicking downward for momentum
or wagging his tail in the joy of letting go.

Anyway, pass that,
ride two escalators
and turn left at the woman in a yellow smock
handing out free newspapers.

Don't worry.
She'll be there.

Caveat

You may have noticed that I have been writing a lot about Billy Collins...well these are the reasons why:
1. He is my favorite poet
2. I've been reading his poetry books lately on my commute
3. I haven't received my Randall Jarrell poetry book in the mail yet.

love,
Virginia

Reading on a Dim Metro Car

The lights were out in cars 3 and 4,
except for fluorescant rectangles above the doors
illuminating the standing few and their reading material.

No one seemed to mind,
but the conductor assured passengers
that he was aware of the problem.

I read about the springtime sunlight
in my dim corner.
Light so permeating, that it urged Billy Collins to smash a glass paperweight
release the photons or something.1

But what did the paperweight ever do?
He probably envies my dark seat
where he would be safe from the ecstatic Collins
and his hammer,
who never smiles.

A magic place
where the quiet train people
hold the paper themselves.

1. Today by Billy Collins