Crossroads

Here I sit long faced
on the shady side of a crossroad
casually nursing a lukewarm tea

Strategically placed
and patiently waiting,
but inspiration yet failed to find me

Brooding at the desperate thought
that half of time eternal
has already slipped quietly past

And half my time unwittingly wasted
obeying, pleasing, deferring
to receive an elusive approval at last

The tight-laced etiquette
from authoritative eyes
dictate how and where I should be when

Those logical constraints
that punish a woman
for her misdeeds recorded with man's pen

Conditioned through history
for associate success,
a loving strong arm from which to be led

A life terminally marked by an asterisk,
to be great, but not too great
and definitely not better than your partner, so said

Realizing late
the most important question
I failed to answer for myself, alone

To overcome this cripple
to leave the waiting table
to walk that special path of my own