Sylvie Hill

These Men: Wise, Kind and Interrogist

With your invitation
“Do you want to fuck tonight?”
A funny request. Nothing serious.
But that’s exactly how I want to hear it
In my future between some man marking papers
Me preparing a lecture
Buying baguette
And taking out the garbage.

I’ve always put up with men
Who tell me I needed to wait for them.
I always said it’d be different
If they were doing a PhD
Or professorship.
Or working in medicine.
For this, I have respect.
Until their midlife crisis
Or their fucking around with students.

But there are certain kinds of men
I think of four of them: my friends.
Scholars, researchers, professorships – tenured.
Brains, and artistic, and married and disciplined.
These men are me – all except the marriage.
We’ve been friends for decades
I love them!
They are wise, kind and feminist.

They are wise, kind and interrogist!
They challenge what I’ve said!
They tell me I’m full of shit!
They play the Devil’s advocate!
They bring intellect common sense.
They remind of my great intelligence.

Sylvie Hill 2017