Undignified Poem by Abby Koning

Emotions stirring.
Rising to the brim of the cup which is our souls
And even over the brim
Spilling into the laps of the fashionistas
(oh, how they shriek)
Staining their white designer dresses
With our violent red
Love.

I’ll never forget how it came to this…

“Undignified, ” they scorned
With their noses in the air.
“Look how they clash.
Observe, how she glides,
Walking upon the clouds
With her head held high,
Turning the heads
Of everyone she meets.
(Not to mention, that top is to DIE for) ”

Not so for him.

“Look how he stumbles,
A wall-flower if I’ve ever seen one.
With his hair of passé length,
Observe how he walks, with his eyes
Fixed upon the latest floor tiling
(that is just so in right now, everyone who’s anyone has it) .
Listen to us, darling. It’s for your own good.
People like him just don’t belong in our world.”

But what world is this?

The world where sorrows are wrapped up in black bows
(for black is the new pink…or haven’t you heard?)
And concealed behind masks of fake smiles and teeth whiteners.
Where emotion is just an embarrassing accessory
That has gone hopelessly out of style,
Simply kept around to aid in manipulations.
Love is money and money is love
And nobody loves just for love any more
(though they act offended when you call them ‘gold diggers’, the exchanging of money
Stops their protests)
And hidden behind every word from their lip-stick coated mouths
(pink, not too dark to be whorish, just dark enough to see it’s the same shade as everyone else’s)
Is a connotation, with an ulterior motive hidden behind even that.

But look at them now…

Covered from hat-donned head to high-heeled toe in our contagious love
Which causes make-up to run and ruins dresses.
(I hope the stains never come out!)
They shriek, and cry (we’re laughing in the corner)
And their world of gossip, money and concealed sorrows comes crashing down upon them.
And in their anger (or could it be jealously?)
They point at me and gasp, “You could’ve done so much better than him.
You two are just so…undignified! ”
And I smile, with my arm around my “unfashionable” man
(who, ironically, is the only one here that I love)
And reply, “Yes. We are indeed undignified.”