I want a girl who reads


from the ABC set some poems for performance

“So, what do you go for in a girl?”
He crows, lifting a lager to his lips
Gestures where his mate sits
Downs his glass
“He prefers tits
I prefer ass.
What do you go for in a girl?”

I don’t feel comfortable
The air left the room a long time ago
All eyes are on me
Well, if you must know

I want a girl who reads
Yeah. Reads.
I’m not trying to call you a chauvinist
Cos I know you’re not alone in this
but…

I want a girl who reads
Who needs the written word
& uses the added vocabulary
She gleans from novels and poetry
To hold lively conversation
In a range of social situations

I want a girl who reads
Who’s heart bleeds at the words of Graham Greene
Or even Heat magazine
Who’ll tie back her hair while reading Jane Eyre
and goes cover to cover with each waterstones three for two offer
but I want a girl who doesn’t stop there

I want a girl who reads
Who feeds her addiction for fiction
With unusual poems and plays
That she hunts out in crooked bookshops for days and days and days
She’ll sit addicted at breakfast, soaking up the back of the conflakes box
And the information she gets from what she reads makes her a total fox
Cos she’s interesting & unique
& her theories make me go weak at the knees

I want a girl who reads

A girl who’s eyes will analyse
The menu over dinner
Who’ll use what she learns to kick my ass in arguments
so she always ends the winner
But she’ll still be sweet and she’ll still be flirty
Cos she loves the classics and the classics are dirty
So late at night she’d always have me in a stupor
As she paraphrases the raunchier moments from the works of Jilly Cooper

See, some guys prefer asses
Some prefer tits
And I’m not saying that I don’t like those bits
But what’s more important
What supercedes
For me
Is a girl a with passion, wit and dreams
So I want a girl who reads

1
2
3
4
5

Discuss this piece in the abctales forum


Comments

Ewan | February 11, 2008 - 19:11

Genuinely for performance? I bet it'll sound good.

I believe performance poets need rhyme and rhythm to make it work. (But what do I know!)

'in a stupor' and 'Jilly Cooper'
this delights my juvenile sense of humour.

I read your poem with an ever-broadening smile and thank you for that.

HaiAnh | February 11, 2008 - 21:29

I need a man who reads! If you come across one, whilst looking for your lady-love let me know. A very delightful read, made me smile also.

Sooz006 | February 12, 2008 - 13:20

Oh my too, my man has read each of my books with a solomn air of duty. His critique of each is short and to the point, "It's quite good, that." ... and then we debate Waters over Gilmore and he oozes passion...briefly!

Another goodie, and perfect for performance.

paulleekelly | February 13, 2008 - 19:51

this is a very well constructed witty poem, and yes as others have said it would go down very well live

ladylazarus | March 24, 2008 - 09:07

I love this, it made me smile and it's very early in the morning, no mean feat...
It flows well and it's funny but not flippant, made me think about what I want in a man and i'm scribbling a poem in response!

Richard L. Prov... | November 17, 2008 - 23:41

This is a great poem-story-presentation! I can see it on the stage. Canadian poet Gwendelyn McEwan was such a performer of words. And all from memory. Keep up the writing. RLP