Muscle Up Gentle Roses


Women's-Land-Army-1917.jpg

Nothing like a war
to bring out the man in a woman.
Necessity has a way of making work
progressively gender neutral.

When a belly is hungry
it doesn’t care who
tends the potatoes.

Muscle up gentle roses.
Men’s hands have been filled with rifles.
It is now your collective spunk
commanded to tend the fields.

You’ve always known your strengths,
unfortunately war has provided opportunity
to pull away layers of I can’t to expose I can.

  ©Susie Clevenger 2016

Izy at Real Toads asked us to take the last text message we received on our phone and create a poem. Mine was: "Have you seen Land Girls?" The question refers to a BBC series on Netflix. Find out who the Land Girls were here.

Comments

Jim said…
I think she could be flying a bomber as well as she could tend potatoes.
Are the 'spuds' a metaphor for kids to tend?
A fun read, Susie.
..
Stacie Eirich said…
Love this because it indeed digs into the real and reminds me of so many war-time ads & images of women I've seen. Since I didn't live through it myself, I only know it through history, fiction and tv series like Land Girls and Home Fires. Thank goodness for public television! I adore BBC for bringing us the stories of real women, stories that show both hardship and triumph and the emotions in-between. Thanks for your poem, I adore the title line.
Maude Lynn said…
This is really outstanding, Susie!
Raivenne said…
Oh, I adore this, Suzie!

"pull away layers of I can’t to expose I can."

Words to live by then and now.

Now I have to remember to find this on NetFlix. Thank you for that. :)
Sherry Blue Sky said…
I love the hungry stomach that doesnt care who tends the potatoes...........love the muscling up of the gentle roses who are stronger than one might suspect. Wonderful, Susie!
brudberg said…
I really like the way a war can be seen as freedom for women being allowed to work... great message to have in your phone.
Hannah said…
Awesome closing words and great points in this poem, Susie. Excellent write!
Helen said…
Equal opportunity, yes!! I am intrigued ~ sounds like a 'must watch!'
Isadora Gruye said…
Huzzah, Susie! I really liked this. There is something musical in this poems structure and I love the simplistic beauty in the line "Muscle up gentle roses." Thanks for posting to the Out of Standard!
Kerry O'Connor said…
An intriguing topic for poetry. I learnt something from this read.
It is unfortunate. But war does bring out strange qualities to the fore.