A Woman with Qualities                                     


            He acted with a desperate 
            Girlishness
            That made me want to 
            Slap his face

            Not that I’ve got anything against girls
            (Trust me, I don’t)

            It was just unseemly
            For a curling eyelash
            To have such effect
            Upon a guy so self-assured

            I mean
            She wasn’t even pretty
            Or intelligent enough to act dumb
            (Unless misquoting Musil was her way)

            I shot straight from the hip
            And let him have it
            While she was at the loo

            It did the trick

            That she had other qualities
            Would only come to light 
            As time traipsed on and cookies crumbled and
            I let her teach me that
            Mascara really lent a certain depth
            To those who mastered the technique


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            Emanuel E. García, A Deeper Symmetry2014