Melissa's Melody

Observations on a train. Muffled music begins and everyone near searches in pockets and pouches for their mobiles.  “Melissa” speaks loudly and I observe. (2001)

 

So busy performing, she skis over life!

What people wear and what they say

is more important than any action.

 

Melissa looks sixteen, but is probably twenty-odd.

Her eyes hold age, but not on first impression

– you have to look deeply.

 

She falls madly and passionately

in love with the best looking

guys who orbit her world.

But it never lasts.

 

The falling,

the flirting,

the first act of sex

- the games,

are enough.

 

She doesn’t really like sex,

but knows how to use it.

Anything after that pales

and Melissa exits

without a backward glance.

 

Sometimes, she’ll tell them,

sometimes not.

Often left wondering

what they’ve done wrong

• victims will question

“Was it my performance?”

 

The world is slowly

becoming populated

by good-looking,

emasculated guys,

asking each other

“Why?”

 

Melissa flits happily between

her trendy unit in Scarborough

that Daddy pays for, the city;

where Mum lets her use

her own Gold Visa card,

and University; a playground 

of fresh meat every new semester.

 

Swapping courses frequently,

she dabbles in a little bit

of every discipline,

not concerned with marks,

just passing

to keep the coffers open.

 

Melissa has no intention

of finishing anything

but wants to stay

in her young world.

 

She doesn’t intend

changing her life

and enjoys being

looked after.

 

She is Daddy’s little Princess.

 

Melissa has no ambition

other than to decorate

her reality and be seen

and heard in all

the right places.

 

For most people,

it’s easier to let her have

her own way

• her tantrums are awesome.

Because she demands it

• she always gets

exactly what she wants!

 

Frances Macaulay Forde © 2001

(1st pub - 'Hidden Capacity - a poet's journey', Cork, Ireland, 2003.)