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You have
money and
a stay-at-home wife.
You live in a house.
You drive a nice car.
You are The Boss and
You are a Father.
when I am none of these things
when I have none of these things
how can you ever see me?
a single white woman with nothing
but smarts and
a quietly exploding wellspring of
frustrated ambition
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Interesting - Clarity is so important in poetry, and a friend told me they thought this poem was romantic. My previous "office" poem was romantic, so perhaps that informed the reading, but it isn't meant to be romantic at all. It's meant to convey a feeling of invisibility at one's work due to gender, class and lifestyle differences. Looking up through the ceiling, so to speak.
When you're below the glass ceiling, no one above you can hear you scream.
Posted by: Liz | September 10, 2006 at 11:06 PM
Hmmm. What was your motivation/inspiration for this?
Posted by: Rebecca | September 12, 2006 at 10:24 AM
Hi Rebecca,
The inspiration is my intense drive to succeed in a world where I often feel so "other" as to be invisible. When everyone above you seems to be a successful white male with a wife - can they see someone like me as a potential peer?
Posted by: Liz | September 14, 2006 at 02:31 PM