Stop Writing Male Characters
She wandered to the market
in a flowery dress and bow
the man she thought was dead appeared
with a fine new girl in tow.
A little down and lifeless now
instead she sought to find
some sympathy in fiction
a writer with her mind.
A man was here and there and there
a mission to be had
and in one scene one second long
a girl appeared—quite mad.
And with sympathy the audience laughed
at the man’s forgetting of
the flowery former-lover-girl
asking how he was.
And then the scene was finished and the man then saved the world
and no one really knew the name of the former lover girl.
Seeking a new ending now
wanting the final word
she found the dead man walking
and this is what we heard:
“I cannot believe your nerve!
How could you be so cruel?
Did you think that I deserved
to be treated like a fool?”
“Yes, I do, and I’m aware
that I was cruel and quite unfair
but, my girl, you should beware
sirs like me, we aren’t fair
we aren’t rare
we’re just
there—
we’re everywhere
in novels, films, there’s no compare
to the burden we do bear:
to operate without a care
to sleep so sound while you despair
it’s exhausting
but
to us
it’s fair.
We do not have the time to spare
to watch our words to you with care
wasting time on this impairs
our ability to—
we just don’t care.
In ‘love’ and war
all is fair.
So by the Lord, my girl, I swear
this truly is
your fault.”By Caitlin S. Ouano
(c) November 2016
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