Free verse № 125866
Acrylic French Nails
Her glistening nails,
long and thick,
newly craftedâ
the French acrylic style,
transparent finish over finger flesh,
opaque on talon ends,
where were the color ordinary
would have trimmed in
white or pink.
Nothing Iâd not want for mine,
save cost and upkeep,
(growth requiring fill,
aging causing cracks)
and yes, one other thingâ
her French nail ends were green.
Still I complimented her sincerely
then couldnât figure why,
except for shine and shape
and for a rating of herself
a person worth adorning.
Thank you, she replied,
I wanted to look different.
Then an answer rose within
in vindication of my praise,
for I could not imagine
one so bored with looking right
she employs devices
to be different.
28 comments
I've had a few bashings over such subjects. Like, 'a woman should not poemise outward appearances or cosmetry hypes, let alone a man.'
Well. I've done poems about two actresses who are quite diametric in this view: Maggie Smith and Cher. Maybe I'll let you read them one day.
As for the poem, is this a made-up person? In my opinion it's presumptuous to think you know what a real person's inner motives might be. The language sounds stiff and convoluted, an apt analogy, perhaps, for the Lee snap on nails, but still I don't like it.
Ok , too wordy maybe but I'm with Zodiac on the ending being a let down . You show us well with the deatiled nails and then tell us what you thought. You know better than that. Weed it, damnit.
Thank you for expressing disillusionment. All of you seem to think I must have meant something more than âShe wanted to look different,â and for granting me that much respect, I thank you.
Imagine a woman who tries all her life to match the ethics and appearances her peers expect from her. She knows she is different and wants very much to be accepted. So she dons stylish clothes and adopts mannerisms, hoping to be perceived as cool. But despite her efforts, she finds herself always saying the odd thing or acting in some unacceptable way.
One day she meets a woman with green tips on her newly done nails. Thatâs odd, she thinks. Why would anyone deliberately do something odd? Then it dawns on her that this woman just naturally fits in and feels bored with the thing our woman spends her energies trying to gain.
For some reasons I missed this line. You are quite serious, I realise. And it's a quite odd poem.
Just out of curiosity, why didn't you have this experience when you were, like, 10?
My, am I inventive.
would be easier but it won't kill me if you keep it the way it is. Try omitting the word style in verse 1 and see if it gives it a better flow. I really like the original idea of using the woman's nails to symbolize a unique lifestyle even if I was kinda hoping for a catfight at the end.
to be different."
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