7th and Definitely Final Daughter

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ray miller
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Thu Jun 23, 2022 7:50 pm

Thursday’s my day for tidying bedrooms
and I’m picking up discarded knickers and socks
that belong to 7th and definitely final daughter
when I notice her diary has been left open,
“ Dear Diary, when I woke up this morning
I realised that I was actually a Goth.”
This explained, then, the darkness
fallen upon her, the torn clothing
and the pinching of her mother’s mascara.

A few Thursdays later the diary
of 7th and definitely final daughter
is left open once again and I find she’s discovered
she is actually gay and is in a relationship
with Jenny, one of her classmates at school.
Not a sudden woke up one morning conversion,
either, something more gradual,
and perhaps then, more enduring,
for The Gothic Age was already history.
Her mother and I were quite pleased, really,
she being 7th and definitely final daughter
and we’d never had a gay one before,
so no chance of unplanned pregnancies
and, of course, boys were all such dickheads.

Jenny’s mother wasn’t so happy, though,
and forbade her daughter from continuing their tryst.
So commenced the Tik-Tok dramas,
in which one would express her profound melancholy
by filming herself stood in the middle of the road
waiting for an innocent vehicle
to put an end to her suffering.
The other would respond by capturing herself
crouched on a railway line, staring
at her wristwatch in mock despair
at the lateness of the train.
Then the next would video herself
tearing open a packet of Paracetamols,
glass of water at hand and the other reply
by pretending to cut her twelve year old throat
with one of her father’s razor blades.
Under this pressure Jenny’s mother relented
and the girls were free to indulge
in their ungodly habits. Free also,
it transpired, to tire of each other rather quickly.

Myself, I wondered, as I’ve often done,
if one’s sexual inclinations
are biologically determined or simply
a matter of lifestyle preference;
for though I see how a persecuted minority,
such as homosexuals, would feel it crucial
to avow that their desires are innate,
that they have no choice in the matter,
so as to confound the busybodies and bigots
all eager to have them converted, imprisoned
or chemically castrated, that doesn’t mean
that it’s necessarily true, and does tend
to invalidate those who are less certain
of their moorings, those just dipping their toes
in the water, if you will. So I asked
7th and definitely final daughter
what her thoughts were on this issue:
did her sexual orientation remain the same,
would it, could it, ever alter, did she think ?
Well, the thing is, I just don’t like boys,
she replied unhelpfully,
they’re all of them just such dickheads.


.
I'm out of faith and in my cups
I contemplate such bitter stuff.
Macavity
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Fri Jun 24, 2022 5:32 am

Held my interest Ray and the ending neatly captures how she functions and the narrator overthinks. Perhaps it is the one on the outside that truly suffers the anxieties...trying to understand chaos!
Thursday’s my day for tidying bedrooms
and I’m picking up discarded knickers and socks
Clearing up another's mess. Order/disorder.
“ Dear Diary, when I woke up this morning
I realised that I was actually a Goth.”
The vagaries of teenage behaviour. Why bother to understand them? :lol:
is left open once again and I find she’s discovered
she is actually gay and is in a relationship
Made me wonder if she does it on purpose or are we to trust the narrator...probably just carelessness!
in their ungodly habits. Free also,
it transpired, to tire of each other rather quickly
That teenage world of rapid turnover.

Good stuff Ray. Felt very lived.
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Lia
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Sat Jun 25, 2022 8:25 pm

Hi Ray, it's interesting how the final words of the daughter imitate the words of the parents earlier on. It comes across as half-jovial, but is this also alluding to the small messy ideas parents can place in their children's heads? I hear the half-humorous voice all the way through the poem, even in the darker parts, which makes for a curious and carefree reading. I'm not criticising - it offers more levels to the work and feels more real.

Lia
ray miller
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Fri Jul 01, 2022 8:05 am

Thanks both. I guess the whole thing is thinking about how we steer our children into acceptable positions. Or we try.
I'm out of faith and in my cups
I contemplate such bitter stuff.
Macavity
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Sat Jul 02, 2022 3:53 am

Yes, we can but try Ray! ... and then getting the crit for doing too much, too little🤣
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