The Length of Her Skirt

by Robert Warrington

The length of her skirt seems to be the issue
and her alleged flirtation at some recent party.
The details are unclear but I get the jealous gist.
Glancing through the window
I can see the legs he’s worried about.
I get the feeling she’s not used to this,
that it’s a shock to find herself
under the hostile microscope
of suspicious-minded scrutiny.
I don’t think they’ve been together long.
This could be her first interrogation.
Maybe she was lucky with her previous men
or maybe he’s the first. Either way
she’s quietly keen to assure him
that his fears are unfounded.
She keeps trying to give sensible answers
to his weird accusatory questions.
She sounds like an undergraduate.
She speaks to him as if she thinks
he ought to be convinced by rational argument.
She doesn’t get it yet.
She doesn’t yet quite know what’s hit her.
She’s not yet got the number of the beast.
Paranoia must be new to her,
misogyny just a word in the dictionary.

2 Responses to “The Length of Her Skirt”

~ This piece was posted on Monday, June 14th, 2010 and was filed under Poetry, Writing. You can make comments on it below. ~