Poem by Laurel Ann Bogen

I Dream the Light of Reason II



The Reasonable Woman is a hope chest, a locked cabinet.


The Reasonable Woman is pleasant enough.


The Reasonable Woman is the converse of sex.


The Reasonable Woman is a durable good, a sound diagnosis.


The Reasonable Woman is a subordinate clause.


The Reasonable Woman is childproof, although Heidi is already up to her knee. 


The Reasonable Woman is a skillet, a war bond.


The Reasonable Woman is a fugue heard on the intercom.


The Reasonable Woman is a graph of stock options, the percentage of return.


The Reasonable Woman is open to suggestion.


The Reasonable Woman is a string bean, a cauliflower, a field of potatoes.


The Reasonable Woman is a packet of Alka-Seltzer in the Accounts Payable file.


The Reasonable Woman is considering bankruptcy.


The Reasonable Woman is a stacked heel, a running shoe.


The Reasonable Woman is a pair of pantyhose in the bathroom sink.


The Reasonable Woman is fat free.


The Reasonable Woman is a shadow of herself.


Why would The Reasonable Woman become unreasonable?

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Laurel Ann Bogen has published eleven books of poetry, her latest book, Psychosis in the Produce Department: New and Selected Poems 1975-2015 is now available from Red Hen Press. Her work has been translated for French, German, Italian, and Spanish literary magazines. Other publications include California Poetry from the Gold Rush to the Present; The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry, Stand-Up Poetry, The Maverick Poets, The Jacaranda Review; Miramar; and Upstreet.

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