Insidious voices…
It’s what we really want. Don’t try to deny it.
To be swept up, carried off,
kidnapped.
Feeble protests
ignored.
Attempts at independence
forestalled.
It’s in every romance we devour
by the millions.
Stubborn women
chastened.
Beautiful shrews,
tamed.
And they wouldn’t break us.
Just train us to bend a little.
As a delicate rose is trained to follow the path of the strong fence.
Trained like a dog?
Perhaps. But with love.
It’s there in every story, every fairy tale.
We don’t really mean it when we say no.
We want to be overpowered, ignoring reason, ignoring cost.
Are you willing to indulge us?
*****
M.A. Mohanraj
December 4, 1992