(or The Time a New Client Came to My Office with Porn Streaming on His Laptop)
He thinks he is a god
perhaps because he’s
seen through flesh and bone,
formed breasts
from mounds of earth,
created his own father, he says —
a graven image in profile.
He pours nectar in a cup,
licks ambrosia from wizened lips,
insisting the indulgences
please his wife,
then asks if I am single,
looking for collusion.
Finding no inroad,
he puts his foot down
with bombastic flare,
digs a heel into the ground
and cocks a smirk,
“I know the cut of your jib,”
he says with bluster.
But I am moored firmly —
unmoved by gods
and their theatrics,
preferring mere mortals,
their rough-hewn souls,
and flawed finishes.
IT BEARS REPEATING
The upcoming series of blog posts is in honor of ALL the women who can, who do, and who keep on doing – who persist – no matter what. They are part of “You Mean A Woman Can Open It,” MANIFEST (zine) #14.
All text and poems ©2026, Jen Payne
Bear artwork by Sohni Ali, website
IMAGE and TEXT CREDITS FOR THE SERIES:
- You Mean A Woman Can Open It? 1953 Alcoa Aluminum advertisement.
- Well, my boy, let’s get started, from “For me, the perfect hostess is the lady with the whip,” German Artist’s Book, 1960s.
- Best Loved Nursery Rhymes Picture Book, circa 1950s.
- Photos of Ryan Zinke from “Interior Secretary Orders Protester To ‘Be Nice’ During Visit To Bears Ears,” Huffington Post, May 2017.
- Family group on a grave marker from Athens, National Archaeological Museum, Athens
- “An American Girl in Italy,” (Ninalee Craig) by Ruth Orkin, 1951.
- Mess of Fish, Paul Klee
- The coat-stand (Porte manteau), by Man Ray, 1920.
- Calliope, Augustin Pajou, 1763.
- Vogue sewing pattern, 1980s.
- “The history of the pussy bow blouse,” Bethany Armitage, CraftWorld, March 2019.
- Atlas Was a Woman, by Céline (Melle-T), Deviant Art, 2007.
- From the collection of Richard Freiherr von Krafft-Ebing (1840-1902) a German-Austrian psychiatrist + early sexologist, 1886.
- “Nevertheless, she persisted” – an expression adopted by feminists, especially in the U.S. after the Senate voted to require Senator Elizabeth Warren to stop speaking during the confirmation of Jeff Sessions as U.S. Attorney General.
