CONTROVER

Tempting as the thoughtless life may be A Prisoner to the Standards of Society

I stand amongst my jailers, awaiting Another proposition to see

Eyes peeled, prim and proper they stand Seeking approval and a rich beaus hand To be a puppet at an alter Strategically pulled by the masters’ commands

The woman in the window cares none About the politics of her fun

Carving her own path in life

One cigarette proves she has won

Defeated the stereotypes

That were meant to be her archetype

The new woman is free

Unburdened, her fresh light still ripe

My soul screams for the taste of freedom

Outside the box of the societal hum

The wind in my hair, the smoke in my lungs

No pressure of what is yet to come

Pulling her final lucious puff

She extinguishes her light with a huff

Stomping the fantasy below the dirt Of what could have been but isn’t enough

Demanding reality calls me back

Letting go of the whip with a crack

I’m chained again to the life I lead

Societal norms pulled tight with no slack.

In our own ways, I think we all step aside to smoke cigarettes by ourselves. None of us want to fit exactly into the box the world tries to tell us we fit into, or at least I don’t. I want to be unexpected. I want to be change. I want to be the difference. I want girls to look at me as the New Woman. The woman that is carelessly myself. Still kind, genuine, compassionate, empathetic and soft but also hard, determined, opinionated and fearless. The world tries to tell us there is only one way we can exist, but we are three-dimensional people. We weren’t made to be only housewives or corporate men; we were made to be happy. The old woman cared only about the opinion of the world and how to serve it. The New Woman cares about her own opinion, and probably the opinion of her friends, let’s be real, but it doesn’t control her. She still thinks of herself and pursues joy over everything. Pursue what makes your heart soar and even if that is to be the tradi - tional woman, then be her, but be her un - apologetically. Don’t be the woman in the window.