True, and nothing to be ashamed of.

We women have monopoly on neither emotion nor floppiness. Have you not seen the old man walking from the pool, his breasts and belly flopping and tears in his eyes over the death of his cat? What we have a monopoly on, except for a few good men, is the admission that emotions are very important to our wellbeing.

What happened to Nature?

Women don't see it that way. They think being in a relationship is some kind of emotional mind-meld, where they are "totally accepted" by the other person. They like this idea because their emotional spines are too floppy to support them, having been repeatedly weakened over the years by such habits as: * Watching Sex & The City * Thinking crying is beautiful * Making scrapbooks * Taking pictures of their friends in staged-to-look-spontaneous poses, and then putting them in Purple Ronnie frames * Consuming all forms of Purple Ronnie merchandise * Writing on scented paper with scented "gel pens" * Believing they are special

You like to imagine you have a monopoly on emotions. In fact, you have a monopoly on floppiness.

I must apologize for having instilled an enormous fear in you that I’m going to say something I’ve said before in one of our hundreds of discussions - so great a fear that you spend most of your commenting time grappling with it - for that has not been my intent. Our views have usually been so diametrically opposed that the illusion of repetition has been created, I believe, on both sides. But I think it’s been repetition of underlying positions rather, for the most part, more than repetition of statements. I wish you saw more in the poem than bees. Without the title, I can see how you would think that, but with the title as it is, the poem can hardly be about bees, except as a metaphor. I thank you for your third paragraph. There are two things I fear about myself. One is becoming a repetitive jerk. The other is the possibility of unconscious closedmindedness, which is more sinister than outright bigotry.

I don't agree that emotional support is the most important aspect of relationshipping. Being young, I'd probably say two more important aspects are some common understanding of the nature of the relationship formed early on and, yes, sexual compatibility.

I don't think it's so similar. To rephrase: Would you say most relationships hinge on some nearly one-to-one exchange of emotional support for sex? That either doesn't seem very profitable for the woman or it seems doubly profitable, I can't decide.

I spend most of my commenting time grappling with this enormous fear that you're going to say something you've said before in one of our hundreds of similar discussions. All things considered, I don't think it's such an unreasonable fear. In the new light, I'd say it's an interesting poem that has little to do with anything but female bee-drones. The little that it DOES have to do with anything else IS really interesting though. I don't think you mean what you write most of the time. I don't think you have the worldview your poems have most of the time. Comments like "Your not a feminist" notwithstanding, I think you're probably a pretty well-adjusted and openminded person who doesn't always pay very close attention to her writings' subtexts. Incidentally, I'd say the same thing about myself, minus the well-adjusted part. I think in many ways an unconscious closedmindedness is more sinister (or at least more common) than outright, say, bigotry. Sorry to be as banal as internet assholery. I'll try to work on it.

Yes, I see from your comment above, that you partly agree with this, but you wobble and merely can't seem to decide.

I love it so much when you say, “I expect you to say . . .” It gives me the confidence to say anything and receive an “I told you so.” What we are dealing with here is what you call a “Scientifical accuracy alert.” You see, worker bees are females who cannot have sex. They never seek “manbees” or drones because they are built to be workers and have no sexual desires. That statement alone bunks most of your argument, especially that “In either event, you have a woman fearing (and by extension centering her existence around) sexual encounter with a man,” and "leaving-the-nest fear is ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS at its root man-centered." "[her] duty is to become impregnated and return home to rear children." I do enjoy reading what you think I mean by what I write. It usually centers on some attitude or worldview that you claim I have and proceeds to explain to me how it is uncool. It is comforting to know that your recent bout with encouragement and kindness has subsided and we are back on an even keel. Please take another look at th poem in this light and tell me what you think.

You have rare talent.