The Voice of the Bawdyhouse 'Bride'

I am so tired of all these men
and boys, these would be studs
who, with their clumsy bodies
and crude advances, just bore me.
But it’s routine, day in day out,
that helps me prepare for each assault.
So I bathe my flesh with perfumed oils
as if expecting my one true lover;
then add the lightest touch of rouge,
to complete the look of innocent bride
and smudge the darkest khol around my eyes
to match their sad ideas of temptress.

I know they seek the youthfulness
of my smooth, lean limbs
and my still proud breasts.
I know that when I turn and smile
they forget I am the whore,
their’s only on an hourly rate.
And when I dance and sway my hips
I feel their eyes caress my curves,
and shamefully seek out my sex.
They come to use me but
the weakness of their desire
gives me by far the greater power.