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Famous / Did I Say The World Was Fair? / Male Privilege Applies To God Too

September 30, 2020/ Su Ertekin-Taner

Famous 

 

Am I a celebrity now? I cried  

When I had placed pink feathered boas around my neck 

I choked on sparkles at the age of six 

Begging for my mom to confirm that I looked like 

Some actress or other 

The pink tights had wound around my legs like ivy 

Up to my chubby waist squeezing in the fat that I was ashamed to have 

Age thirteen was the double digits 

And the double C cup 

Not because I had grown into them but because I liked wearing them 

My first apple phone was meant for pictures I took  

In the too-big bras because I no longer wore the pink feathered boas  

To cover myself up 

Naked was the new fashion  

And models the new celebrities 

Sixteen was when I shed the bra 

Legs wide open sprayed with sugar perfume 

Welcoming the boys who thought they were men 

Humankind turned from human to animal 

Cheetah was the new pattern that  

Celebrities wore 

When seventeen came along I had no more to shed 

So I shed my skin 

The boys had already dissected me like the frog they were told to dissect  

In biology 

So I shed 

Like the boa constrictor I grew up as 

Jaws unhinged to devour the latest tabloids  

Because I lived off celebrities’ style 

Until I too became empty like them 


Did I Say the World Was Fair? 

  

In a properly   

organized   

society   

like ours,   

nobody has any opportunities for being noble or heroic.   

We don’t need human intelligence   

For all men are physio–chemically equal 

But of course, some are more equal than others  

For everybody’s happy nowadays 

Born straight from the depths of a nonexistent heart   

Because, I pledge allegiance to the two-faced liberty   

Of the United States of America 

And to the inhuman race for which we stand 

One nation, under masks, no identification,  

With hallucinogens and slavery for all. 

  

This prayer is for America 

Bless me, Father, for I have sinned 

in this new world I know it’s wrong but, I— 

      INDULGE! 

 

God isn’t compatible with machinery and happiness   

Indulged 

Oh, make me pure   

    Be independent of God!   

Oh, help me to be good   

    A gram is better than a damn   

Forgive me God   

    Progress is lovely. Isn’t it?   

HELL IS EMPTY AND ALL THE DEVILS ARE HERE!        

Stop right now! 

You’ve crossed the line so you’re gonna have to turn around  

   Now to return to my subject… 

So…  

You don’t much like civilization?   

Well, “savage” doesn’t care about convention, parameters, or propriety 

  

        They might be killed   

      They’ll be killed if you don’t hurry   

        Help   

              Help   

                  Help   

        They’ll kill him          

Help I need somebody 

We should put them all in the lethal chamber!   

      I like your spirit    

Or strip them to the waist, hit them with a whip of knotted cords   

     One   

          Two   

                                                                      Three   

        Four  

Again  

And Again  

And Again 

And Again 

DO IT AGAIN 

Fuck me up 

Then          HELP HELP   

PLEASE  

FUCK ME UP  

Ladies and gentlemen   

This   

Is  

Fucking  

America  

Take hold of the zipper at her neck and give one long strong pull   

There was of course no one there   

She was empty This is America 

Mask under the  

mask under the  

mask under the   

mask 

I thought that nobody was ever alone here   

But one can’t have something for nothing   

Happiness has got to be paid for   

Did I say the world was fair? 


Male Privilege Applies to God Too 

 

God likes dresses that don’t leave much to the imagination 

Because he likes us better when we’re naked 

Too much fabric can cover up flaws 

No, He doesn’t like that  

 

Bare skin 

Is easier to mold 

Than that covered  

By cotton  

 

God prefers women who like men 

Like they like their Lord 

Worship is not only for the strong He says 

It is for the meek 

 

The women taste better  

When meek 

 

God tastes Mother Earth 

Her rivers are left dry  

Sucked out 

Skies suffocated 

Because He ingested her clouds 

But not the smoke 

Because He is allowed to take his pick  

 

It was no coincidence that God created 

Adam first  

Because 

Women cannot be molded without there 

First being a man 

To create them 

To tempt them 

To crave them 

To devour them 

 

Adam’s ribs 

Were not given to  

Eve’s bosom  

Because of his generosity 

Were they? 

Su Ertekin-Taner is a sophomore, actress, writer, journalist, singer, and informal comedian at The Bolles School in Jacksonville, FL. She began writing poetry at the age of thirteen when she barely knew what the meaning of it was. Now, Ertekin-Taner is an aspiring writer and English teacher with awards for her writing. While she has not won any Nobel prizes for literature, she has received prize money for her poem “Soar” during the Jax Poetry Contest, as well as having received multiple awards from the Florida Times Union, Scholastic, and Florida Scholastic Press Association for her poetry, prose, and journalism.

School Lunch Archive

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Friday Lunch Blog

Friday Lunch! A serving of contemporary essays published the second Friday of every month.

Today’s course:

How to Kill a Cat, or How to Prepare for CATastrophe

March 10, 2023/in Blog / Meghan McGuire
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The Night I Want to Remember

December 16, 2022/in 2023ws-migration, Blog / Sanaz Tamjidi
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From Paper to the Page

November 18, 2022/in 2023ws-migration, Blog / Annie Bartos
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Midnight Snack

Take a bite out of these late night obsessions.

Tonight’s bites:

Point Break & Top Gun Are More Than Homoerotic Action Movies

March 3, 2023/in Midnight Snack / Michaela Emerson
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Mending the Heart and Slowing Down: Reintroducing Myself to Mexican Cooking

October 7, 2022/in Midnight Snack / Megan Vasquez
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The Worth of a Billionaire’s Words

September 23, 2022/in Midnight Snack / Kirby Chen Mages
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Amuse-Bouche

Little bites every third Friday to whet your appetite!

Today’s plate:

On Such a Full Sea Are We Now

March 17, 2023/in Amuse-Bouche / Jemma Leigh Roe
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The Russian Train

February 24, 2023/in Amuse-Bouche / Cammy Thomas
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Still Life

October 31, 2022/in Amuse-Bouche / Daniel J. Rortvedt
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Word From the Editor

Our contributors are diverse and the topics they share through their art vary, but their work embodies this mission. They explore climate change, family, relationships, poverty, immigration, human rights, gun control, among others topics. Some of these works represent the mission by showing pain or hardship, other times humor or shock, but they all carry in them a vision for a brighter world.

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