I wanted to get off the subject of her fair/not fair poem, only to get redirected to a poem she posted last summer, took down, then briefly reposted this week – at least, I’m assuming it is the same poem since I only have a screen shot of the poem, and it no longer appears on her blog from back then.
Maybe not so oddly, she only posted in on her blog this time, and not – as she is want do to – on her Facebook page as well –which suggests she may yank the poem down again shortly.
I’ve made references to it as one of the most enlightening of her poems, something that suggested she is conscious of what she does and supports the conclusions of her poem about fair and unfair.
In other words, you don’t get anywhere in this world by playing under somebody else’s rules, and as with the fair/unfair poem, she makes clear that life is not a game of fair or unfair, good or bad, right or wrong, only about getting what you want or need by whatever means you have at your disposal.
In her case, this means trickling up.
As pointed out previously, I have been utterly naïve when it comes to power relations, and intentionally unaware of the harsh reality of how people have gotten ahead, even in my own office and would have remained that way had she (and possibly RR) not mistaken me for being a power player and got me wrapped up in the whole mess.
Her posting this poem comes after four or five other poems that have a subtext of her picking herself up out of a sense of despair and bitterness.
I’ve speculated some of these are aimed in my direction, but in truth, I can’t tell for certain, although this poem says as much as the last poem did, disputing the whole concept that if you wait long enough and work hard enough, you’ll get what you deserve.
Trickle down suggests that power and privilege somehow makes its way to down to ordinary people, but it rarely does.
And she is saying frankly that competing in this rat race has turned into something she never planned, “into this thing that, frankly, is not what we dreamed we be.”
So, she has to meet these challenges with “an upsurge” and “frank” and “un-ADULT—erated”
This line seeming to support one of the tools she has for advancement is sex.
The poem ends with the question: “see?” as if she aimed this poem specifically at one person to make it clear what her life is about.
Like the previous poem, she is saying something significant and very publicly, explaining she is only using those things society has left her with, and suggests that the only way she’ll ever get what she needs or wants is to trickle up.
She is saying this is what she has to do, and asking someone – perhaps even me – to understand, and accept it.
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