Like the minstrel said, Only Women Bleed…
Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers
Adrienne RichAunt Jennifer’s tigers prance across a screen,
Bright topaz denizens of a world of green.
They do not fear the men beneath the tree;
They pace in sleek chivalric certainty.Aunt Jennifer’s fingers fluttering through her wool
Find even the ivory needle hard to pull.
The massive weight of Uncle’s wedding band
Sits heavily upon Aunt Jennifer’s hand.When Aunt is dead, her terrified hands will lie
Still ringed with ordeals she was mastered by.
The tigers in the panel that she made
Will go on prancing, proud and unafraid.
(By the way, this poem is quite technically brilliant. I love the rhythm.)
PS. It occurs to me that if you wanted to be a total gadfly you could point out that Aunt Jennifer’s vindication occurs via chivalry, a ‘masculine’ virtue (the poem speaks of tigers, not tigresses), which kinda misses the point?
“He slaps you once in a while and you live and love in pain” — Tori Amos covered ‘Only Women Bleed’ in 2001; here’s an mp3.