The Men (In Answer To Rudyard Kipling's The Ladies) Poem by Suzanne Hayasaki

I've taken my fun where I've found it.
I've had a few dates in my time.
I've broken some hearts in my heyday.
And a few of the men broke mine.
One was a teacher of physics.
One was a classmate at school.
One was a boy that I tutored
And with each of them I broke some rules.

Now I'm not much for social occasions.
I'm not much for hitting the bars.
I'd rather stay home with a novel
Or gaze up at a sky filled with stars.
But there are times when you need a companion.
There are times when you need someone warm.
And one privilege of being a woman
Is the ease with which trysts can be formed.

I was a young girl in Boston.
Shy as a virgin could be.
But I had a teacher whose lesson
Brought out the woman in me.
Older than me by a decade.
Wiser than me by a mile.
He showed me some ways to brighten his days
Yes, he gave me some lessons on men.

Then I went on to college.
Determined to earn my degree.
And along with my studies of plant life
I worked on anatomy.
Handsome and tan and unfaithful,
Stud in a lab coat he was.
But it wasn't fair - I was expected to share
Yes, he gave me some lessons in men.

Eventually, I started teaching.
(Now I was in charge of the lab.)
And I took up with one of my students.
And innocent bright young lad.
He reminded me of my girlhood.
He made me feel alive.
For when we made love I'd forget who I was.
Yes, he gave me some lessons in men!

I've taken my fun where I've found it.
And most of the time I have paid.
For the more I have learned about each man
The less I have wanted to stay.
But younger men are different.
Yes, younger men are strange.
And I'm holding on to this one
Until he deserts me in my old age!

What do my other lovers think?
I never thought to ask.
Someone told me the other day
That I had no right to bask
In the sunshine of some other's youth.
In the moonlight of his esteem.
But I told her to hold her tongue
For I intend to live out this dream!