by Hana Mansur
Boys are easy,
Give them a squeeze
of the arm, or a twitch of a smile,
and they’ll spend that night making love to you
in their dreams.
Boys are quick,
they’re quick to fall,
they like to fall
down fifty flights of stairs to be where you are.
They like to fall into water
from the top of a twelve story building,
so the water feels like concrete.
Boys are simple,
they don’t think about whether you have a career path,
have a passion for something real,
or like to travel.
No,
As long as you have somewhat of a symmetrical face,
you pass.
And you pass with flying sparks.
You find these sparks
with many men,
and when their rough fingers
intertwine with yours,
reason leaves you.
You forget to pull out the checklist
to make sure he has a career path,
has a passion for something real,
and likes to travel.
You forget about that checklist,
until you find it
buried under your mail a week later.
Then you realize the stag,
is really a ferret,
and you, the hunter,
will have to let your prey go.
You’ve watched them limp away,
one by one,
and you tell yourself you didn’t mean to hurt them,
that you’re just a girl with a head
and a heart,
and while the arrows last,
you’d like to use every one.
It only works though,
when they keep coming around.
It doesn’t work if they bury themselves
when they hear you coming,
when they recognize
the twang
of your bow.