comport

Today's word is

comport

Honestly, I am not comporting myself well with this exercise this year.  So behind.  So very behind.

It's like I'm blogging in name only.  Oh, the shame.

*****

Monday, 10:45 p.m.

Okay, less like shame all the time.  Getting there; filling in some holes.

supposedly well
and stable
ordinary, respectable,
she leaves her house,
her correct address in the right neighborhood
for her age and income and marital status,
a seething, roiling mess,
every hair out of place,
every tail untucked, every white stained,
inside

she doesn't really know how to comport herself

she'd stay home all the time if she could

talking to you, telling you what to do
it frightens her
she's never sure

she pays you
or her firm does
to follow her orders

you assume the fact of her authority

that assumption,
it's written on your paycheck
and you reiterate it back to her, to them all,
with every endorsement
every payment of every bill

every yes you say at work,
every no
they come from your agreement
that this woman will always
be right

and you think she's in on the agreement
but she's not

she would be if she were who you see,
the suit,
the immaculate silks,
unmarked nails, heels, brow,
but she's not

she's a tornado

she's a hurricane, an unmade bed,
dirty, starving, and afraid
inside

no one would believe it

she believes nothing else