Photo: Silas Baisch on Unsplash
It was not quite a smile.
It was born not in joy
Nor in any enchantment,
But in desperate
Hope
To forestall
Shame
As it loomed,
A storm
In the fast shrinking distance.
For Sammi’s Weekend Writing Prompt: Grimace in 33 words
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Na'ama Yehuda 
Whoa… excellent take, Missy!
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Thank you, my dear!
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Definitely my pleasure.
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XOXO
It is a bit of an echo still from “The Proposal” story, and perhaps from the all-too-recognizable effort of so many, especially women and girls – in the past and today still – to minimize the inevitable shame that’s so often put upon them for perceived offenses that are often not an offense at all other than in societal distortion.
Like the man who wants to run for government in the US but refuses to meet with a woman reporter unless she comes with a male chaperone (true story from this week) – basically shaming her, a priori, for being some kind of vile thing out to get him just for being female.
I can only imagine the existential shame he puts upon the women and girls in his life. …
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Ugh…
I missed that story. It’s disgusting that this is what it has come to.
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Yes, though I think some kinds of men were always around, it is just now the stick out like a sore thumb (which is better than blending in pretending to be normal…)
But, yeah, it’s ugh ugh ugh.
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Yes. Much better they stick out…
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Yep. First step for helping people who may not have a creep-radar, learn to read their signs and give them the “I’m watching you” glare they deserve, all while raising some protective boundaries around the vulnerable around them.
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Brilliant!
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OOOOOOOOOH, I do adore “Brilliant” … 😉 XOXO
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I should hop so!!!
xoxo
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LOL!
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Wonderful word-images. Much like 🙂
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Thank you, Crispina! I’m glad this spoke to you! 🙂
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Na’ama Y’kara,
Wonderful description of a grimace. Wonderfully told in so few words, having read the exchange of comments above. (Heaves heavy sigh).
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thank you, Rochelle, from the depth of my heart. Some of these realities are heartbreaking. If we don’t grimace (and more) at them, we’d be lacking some fundamental human thread.
Hugs
Na’ama (off to read yours!)
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