Female Friendship (for B)

She said:

If I were a man

I would get blowjobs all the time

From hot, young women

Publish the same idea over and over

And be a dean by now.

 

We laughed

 

I said:

If I were a man

I would be a total asshole

And free.

 

Here we are

 

46

On WhatsApp phone

The world slumped in lockdown

 

We are having our weekly check-in

Rant rage dialogue monologue therapy heal

Bonding over carb comas, writers block and bloat

 

Both of us

Unlearning the scripts on perpetual loop

In our projector minds

Implanted by:

 

Patriarchy

Academia

Highly Sensitive Genes

 

Weak fathers and

Self absorbed mothers

Who didn’t see us.

 

Our tired, beaten up selves

Willingly caught in the gilded cage of 

The safe and known, the numb.

 

Together

 

We slowly build new habits

Erect and maintain boundaries

Drink more water

Take deep breaths

Learn to say no.

 

We put on invisible

Wonder Woman bracelets

To deflect the bullets that

Bounce off us

 

As our fragile,

Perimenopausal bodies

 

Break down

 

Break open

 

Bear new fruit

© Jane Park