Carmen

For Richard

— published by the Poetry Foudation

The boys are always jackals.
They all want to be afraid of
each other. They all want to be
interested in each other in
ways that are inappropriate for
the type of relationship they
have. The boys are always jackals
and the boys only want what
they want. The boys always want
the one woman they are not
expected to have and the boys
always want what they are never
supposed to have. This is why
the boys who want are always
the damned boys. This is why
the boys who want are the damned
boys: because the boys want women
who know how to fight, who know
exactly how to hit a punching bag
and mean it. The boys want the girls
who know how to box and the boys
don’t give two shits if the girls
hurt the boys. This is not how it is
supposed to be at all-the boys
are the ones who are supposed to do
all that fighting and the gender
norms and the gender roles are all
wrong, all wrong.