Marilyn L. Taylor
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How Aunt Eudora Became a Post-Modern Poet
A girl is not supposed to write that way
(the teachers told her in the seventh grade)—
you ought to find more proper things to say.
For instance, there’s no reason to portray
your daddy sucking gin like lemonade—
young girls are not supposed to write that way.
And we don’t care to read an exposé
on how your mama gets the grocer paid;
there ought to be more proper things to say.
Why not write about a nice bouquet
of flowers, or a waterfall, instead?
You cannot be allowed to write the way
you did, for instance, when your Uncle Ray
was entertaining strangers in his bed,
and what the county sheriff had to say.
Why put such vulgar passions on display?
You’re going to regret it, I’m afraid—
remember, you’re a girl. So write that way.
Go find yourself some proper things to say.
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Marilyn L. Taylor, former Poet Laureate of Wisconsin (2009 and 2010) and the city of Milwaukee (2004 and 2005) is the author of six poetry collections. Her award-winning poems and essays have appeared in many anthologies and journals, including Poetry, American Scholar, Measure, and Able Muse. Marilyn taught poetry and poetics at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee until her retirement in 2008, and her column on poetic craft appeared for five years in The Writer magazine.