Do you fear me

by Ellyn Maybe

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?

From: 
Ellyn Maybe




ABOUT THE POET ~
Ellyn Maybe has numerous books and CDs and has performed her poetry 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 was seen reading her work in Michael Radford’s (Il Postino) film Dancing at the Blue Iguana. www.ellynmaybe.com, The Ellyn Maybe Band was formed in 2010 after the release of the critically acclaimed album, Rodeo for the Sheepish (Hen House Studios). With wonderful feedback from such luminaries as Greil Marcus, Henry Rollins and Jackson Browne, the band has since gone on to tour Europe including performances at the 2011 Glastonbury Festival in the UK, Drogheda Arts Centre and No Alibis Bookstore in Belfast. Also, notable performances include Shakespeare and Company Bookstore in Paris and a TEDx Conference poetry reading and performance with singer songwriter Jackson Browne. The Ellyn Maybe Band includes Harlan Steinberger, Robbie Fitzsimmons, Danny Moynahan, Tommy Jordan and Paul Bushnell. They are currently working on new material and putting out new singles. More touring is in the works., www.ellynmaybe.com


Last updated August 24, 2011