Ellyn Maybe | Do You Fear Me? | The Nervous Breakdown

POEM

Do You Fear Me?

by Ellyn Maybe
VENICE BEACH, CA
29 November 2009

Do you fear me cause I wear
          a purple friendship bracelet?
Do you fear having me as a friend?
Are you afraid to introduce me
          to your grandparents?
The only perfect thing about me
          is my perfect lack of confidence.
Does that freak you out?
I’m fat.
How does that sit with you?
I wear political pins.
Does that bother you?
I’m a bookworm.
Does that depress you?
Are you terrified
          cause I’ve been bas mitzvahed?
Are you scared
          cause I think spiders are sacred?
I’m left handed. ooooooooooooo No comment.
Do you worry about me cause I’m a virgin
Cause I’m loud and sometimes embarrassing,
          are you wary of spending time with me?
I know where the feminist bookstores are
          in a whole bunch of states.
Does that make you tremble?
People think I’m younger
          and older than I am.
Does that reflect badly on you somehow?
I don’t always comb my hair.
Can you hear it coming?
Is it my ugliness or beauty that
          frightens you the most?
Are you afraid of me cause I’m human?

TAGS: Ellyn Maybe, poets

ELLYN MAYBE has performed her poetry in a variety of venues all over the country, including Bumbershoot, the Poetry Project, the New School, Taos Poetry Circus, South by Southwest, Lollapalooza, Albuquerque Poetry Festival and Seattle Poetry Festival. She has also read in Europe at the Bristol Poetry Festival, on the BBC, and in poetry slams and readings in Munich, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Stuttgart. She opened the MTV Spoken Wurd Tour in Los Angeles. In addition, she has also read at USC, UCLA, CSUN and Cal State Fullerton, among other colleges.

Writer’s Digest named her one of ten poets to watch in the new millennium. Her work has been included in many anthologies, including Word Warriors: 35 Women Leaders in the Spoken Word Revolution, Poetry Slam, Another City: Writing From Los Angeles, Poetry Nation, The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry and American Poetry: The Next Generation. She was on the 1998 and 1999 Venice Beach Slam teams. She is portrayed reading her work in Michael Radford’s (Il Postino) film, Dancing at the Blue Iguana.

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 29th, 2009 at 2:31 am and is filed under Poem, Poetry. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

10 Responses to Do You Fear Me?

Comment by Ducky

2009-11-29 10:30:44

Humans are afraid of so much. Is it because we have the most to lose of all the species? A chihuahua will go after a pit bull, fear doesn’t register. It’s an interesting question – why we need fear.

Reply to this comment
Comment by Rich Ferguson

2009-11-29 17:55:34

Wonderful work, Ellyn! Thanks so much for taking part in the TNB experience. Onward and upward…

Reply to this comment
Comment by Erika Rae

2009-11-30 00:03:57

People are afraid of difference. Oddly, we’re also afraid of sameness. What gives?

Glad to see you on TNB.

Reply to this comment
Comment by kristen

2009-11-30 14:22:36

I second Ducky’s comment–humans really are afraid of nearly everything. Difference, sameness–all of it.

Man, to be able to shrug such fear off once and for all. Difficult to imagine a life that free.

So–loved your poem’s topic, obviously. Strong writing, too.

Reply to this comment
Comment by Ellyn Maybe

2009-11-30 15:24:40

Thanks so much for your sweet and evocative words everyone!
Much appreciated!
best wishes,
ellyn

Reply to this comment
Comment by Stephanie St. John Olear

2009-12-01 22:04:50

i really liked this – thank you – going to keep reading you and watching out for you, Ms Maybe.

Reply to this comment
- Comment by Ellyn Maybe
  
  2009-12-06 05:23:08
  
  Thanks so much Stephanie!
  Best wishes,
  ellyn
  
  Reply to this comment
Comment by Janine Adair Kohanim Ferrell

2009-12-27 17:15:57

These are the sorts of questions that are rarely voiced….but should be.
I have told my closest and dearest to play “What I Really Want” by Alanis
Morissette at my funeral because it voices some similar sentiments…nice work!

Reply to this comment
Comment by Ellyn Maybe

2009-12-27 17:23:46

Wow, thanks so much for your very sweet words Janine! I’m deeply touched.
Happy New Year!
Best wishes,
ellyn

Reply to this comment
Pingback: The Nervous Breakdown

Do You Fear Me?

Related Posts

10 Responses to Do You Fear Me?

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

NEWS & EVENTS

SEARCH

PODCASTS

RECENT COMMENTS

MOST READ