Object lesson

To my friend Cyndi, who taught me I had neither the power nor the right.

Woman               

     as the

object   

     of my

                 desire

you are

      much             

                 less than human.

I cannot

       ((let)) 

you be

yourself;

                   I do not have the

power                  

                   to give my

permission.         

To be 

objectified

          is to be flawless;

you are imperfectly

                     warm, soft,           

flesh and blood. 

I am 

          sick and tired of

object

            lessons.

come, teach me more

of what real is.

Reviews

[FJ Davis]

Very honest and exceedingly wise, Joel--but, as you so well realize, knowing is not being. Until such wisdom permeates and transforms emotions, little changes. (Evidently, this is the nature of teaching you so poetically, so bravely, request.)
In a sense, we are all "perfectionists"; who we are as human beings drives us to make order of chaos (or, at least, seeming chaos) and to seek perfection (God, in all His or Her Forms.) "Objectifying" women is a low form of plain old idealization--because we love them, we wish them to have the supreme gift of perfection; this is bad enough--since, obviously, perfection is not a gift we can grant; causing these poor creatures all manner of hell when they soon "betray us" by falling short. Inevitably, we get to the point where what we are actually saying is, because you're clearly not perfect, I can't love you.
Please forgive my tangential philosophizing. Your thought-provoking poem will be my excuse.
Excellent work, Joel.

[.]

~ i'm absolutely astonished... and moved... ~ your post and mr. davis' review make this page one of the most enriching pages on this site... you two are unbelievably remarkable... wow...

[Judy Ponceby]

Beautiful :) What is real is so much more than an object could be. Well done Joel.

[LA Lorena]

Oh yes, I do like this! Real is the real deal, to be sure!

[Neva Flores Smith - Cha..]

Oh! Oh! I love this...........what an invitation you left there at the end......mmmm

[Audrey Howitt]

I love the vulnerability of this poem. It gives the reader permission to be less than perfect, and I am always grateful for that.

[ju]

i love this. an admission of guilt, willingness to learn- sounds like the perfect apology. i'm sure you've twiddled this since i last read- maybe (can't get my head round anything today :/ )
but it's still great, as strong as ever.
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