His gaze too low
beading necklace, trickle-sweat
between my breast.
My voice reflected,
percentages are bouncing
on his wolfish grin a
“No”.
My arguments lie spilled,
unheard.
Pressure cooker-giggling
not an invitation,
but still his hands are talons,
coldness of his wedding-band
against my skin.
My whispered “No”,
unheard.
Afterwards, he says:
“Can we meet tomorrow night?”
Bird of Prey Tivadar Kosztka Csontvary
Kelly Letky is guest hosting at dVerse poetics, where she wants us to gender-bend it. Look from the point of view of the opposite sex. I still set it in relation to man, because I think that basically women and men are primarily humans, but together there are those that use their power to abuse.
—
September 29, 2015
Björn Rudbergs writings 
There is nothing worse than a man who cannot hear the word no. I met quite a few when I was young. Now I know to avoid them.
Huh. Will be interesting to see if writers will be able to avoid stereotyping as they try to write from a different gender.
Anyone that uses power to take, coerce favors – is disgusting. We were just talking about this Friday, as there is a female teacher in the division that just ‘resigned’ after being caught having sex with male students. You just have to wonder what they are thinking. How fragile they must be.
I guess the scariest part in this is how casual that last line is.
Oh wow! Bjorn. Speechless! 🙂
Excellent metaphor in ‘his hands are talons.’ I agree with Suzanne. “No” means ‘no.’ Probably both parties are guilty of not listening sometime, or else the words do not match their actions!
You used the imagery so well here to set the scene and bring home the point… talons, indeed. Ouch. This is a scenario that so many women will relate to, and I’m sure a few men as well.
I agree that we are first and foremost all humans, and should treat each other with the respect that deserves. But I also think that we are born with certain traits inherent to our gender, and it is the yin/yang of those dueling forces that fascinates me.
ugh – it’s disgusting if someone uses their power position to treat others as if they were their property. just watched a movie last week where this was the theme and it made me so angry. the woman killed herself in the end cause she saw no other way to end this
Being raised in the 50’s, men used to believe that No was just a feign to test their resolve, No meant Maybe or even Yes. I believe that for myself, my education relative to understanding women started with the realization that by God, No meant NO.
A no is a no,unless the guy is real stalker and creepy addicted to women and sex ~ I specially thought the opening lines were good and reflects the woman’s point of view ~
In this day and age, still too sadly true. One of my first early bosses was like that. After several times of being backed into a corner and fending off those “talons”, I quit…and told his wife. Ouch!
Predators of the human kind are all too prevalent these days. I read stories everyday of women taken off guard and mistreated and disrespected. Wonderful you could put yourself in a woman’s shoes this way…liked ‘coldness of his wedding band’.
Whoa…. sexual predators can be downright creepy and you have done well in describing them in your verse. Well penned!
Lots of love,
Sanaa
Been there. Got the t-shirt.
Been watching Mad Men, where the cheating is pathological. So this fit right in. Such tension here and maybe some pathology with some skin crawling thrown in.
powerfully creepy
Oh my gosh. This prompt has seemingly brought the creepy out in us. What makes this little scenario especially unsettling is that it happens way too often. Well done, Bjorn. You put yourself in our shoes pretty damn well!
So does her ‘no’ mean ‘yes’ as in a justification men have been known to use when carrying on carrying on? The clue is in the word “whispered” – if she really means No she would scream it loud.
Or a man should know that if you ask for a payrise, you are not asking for sex… but I think screaming is the right way of doing it.
I wish your last lines had read ‘My nails are claws, my teeth fangs. and my kick is well-aimed” 🙂 Great job Bjorn, getting under the skin of a cornered woman.
The title sounds like “Pay Her Eyes.”
The first five lines are my favorites. Also the coldness of the wedding band. This is very good.
Cold and creepy but oh so well written. Great job!
Whew. Strong stuff. Well done.
A no is a no. Strong piece.
a dark, predatory tenor throughout … there is a sense of creepy – but commonplace – realism, that adds to the visceral intensity.