A Modern Millie

There was a time when men

wooed women with flowers

and a box of ‘Black Magic’

or expensive jewellery.

 

Was it real affection

or a way of seduction?

It isn’t always easy

to spot deception.

 

It was, it is said,

the age of chivalry.

They would raise their hat

as a mark of respect

and stand up for ladies

entering the room.

 

The door would be held

for the gentler sex

and a seat on a bus,

or  a train, given up.

 

Then all that changed.

Equality emerged

and the Modern Millie

felt demeaned,

perhaps even silly,

to be patronised.

 

She suddenly flowered

and her intellect

eclipsed the concept

that women to men

were just sex objects.

 

It was as if by magic

she’d discovered realism

and made it her own.

Now master of her destiny

she would decide when

she may lose her cherry.

 

She has found her voice,

she has new choices

 and she might consider

an affair. A romantic liaison

that doesn’t involve men.

 

© Luigi Pagano 2015