Poem: "If You Go by Someone Else's Pace"
This poem came out of the October 5, 2021 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
janetmiles, ng_moonmoth, and 
jake67jake. It also fills the "If you go by someone else's pace, it shows how much you really care." square in my 10-1-21 card for the Fall Festival Bingo. This poem has been sponsored by ng_moonmoth. It belongs to the series Walking the Beat.
"If You Go by Someone Else's Pace"
One thing Dale and Kelly loved
about being older lesbians was
the chance to mentor younger ones.
Sometimes they volunteered with
the Queer Artists Collective from
the Massachusetts College of Art
and Design, helping the students
figure out sex, romance, and
how to be almost-actual-adults.
It was early October, so today
they were meeting up with the club
in Olmstead Park, which had benches
good for doing artwork en plein air
or just for sitting and talking.
Dale wound up chatting with
a girl named Amélia Pinto,
a Brazilian-American painter
and illustrator. She wanted
to show queer people of color
and their cultural items in
a more positive light.
Among her projects was
a series of still-life pictures
of symbolically queer objects.
Amélia was falling in love with
another girl, Fran Charpentier,
who was into industrial design
along with furniture making.
Fran wanted to make furniture
and other products for all kinds of
different body and family shapes.
The two girls seemed compatible,
but Amélia felt kind of antsy about
about the progress of the relationship.
"Fran sounds like an interesting person,"
Dale said. "So what's the hangup?"
"We've been on several dates, but
we've barely kissed," said Amélia.
"So?" Dale said. "Some people
prefer taking it slow to rushing."
"Yeah, Fran says that she's
demiromantic and it takes her
a while to warm up," Amélia said.
"If you go by someone else's pace,
it shows how much you really care,"
Dale pointed out. "So start there."
"I guess that makes sense,"
Amélia said. "I just don't want
to risk lesbian bed death, you know?"
"It's a little early to worry about that,
but consider this: people who have sex
too early don't have relationships as
good as those wait longer," said Dale.
"Why not?" Amélia said. "That
seems pretty counterintuitive."
"Ideas vary, but it could be
a distraction from communication
or the sex making people believe
that they are more connected
than they really are," said Dale.
"I suppose that makes sense,"
Amélia said. Then she brightened.
"Maybe I could do a series of pictures
about married couples, and watch
how they get along together."
Dale nodded. "Observing
experienced couples is
a good way to learn how
relationships work, or not."
"My parents love each other,
but they're not lesbians, so I'm
not sure how much use that
will be for me," said Amélia.
"A lot carries over," Dale said.
"Don't worry too much about
how fast you're going, and
just focus on having fun
while you get acquainted.
Really talk to each other."
"I'll try that," said Amélia.
"Hey, do you mind if I
sketch you? I mean, you
have that interesting cane,
and I like drawing people
with meaningful objects."
"Go ahead," Dale said,
folding her hands so that
her wedding ring showed.
"Oh, that's perfect!" Amélia said,
and pulled out her sketch kit.
It had a field journal, pens and
pencils, and a watercolor set.
With deft strokes, she sketched
Dale with her hands on the cane,
a glint of gold hinting at the ring.
Amélia fanned the page to help
the watercolors dry faster, then
popped open the rings and
handed the picture to Dale.
"You don't have to give me
the painting," Dale protested.
"I want you to have it, though,"
said Amélia. "I'm trying to make
more art of queerfolk, and that will
have more impact if I pass it around
than if I just keep it all to myself."
"Good point," Dale said. "I'll
have to hang this up at home."
By then, it was almost time to go,
so they headed back to the group.
Dale showed off the picture that
Amélia had given her, and Kelly
admired the talent that it showed.
Kelly had met up with De-lisha Leigh,
who knew American Sign Language since
her grandmother was hard of hearing.
De-lisha was in the Fibers program,
which included weaving, dyeing,
papermaking, and basketmaking
among various other subjects.
She also took summer intensives
on all kinds of sculpture, from clay
to mosaics to multimedia displays.
She wanted to make art objects and
props for film productions, especially
those that featured queer people
or some experimental theme.
De-lisha fell in love with this girl,
Libertee Williams, who's a film major,
Kelly signed. They've gone on
two dates and just moved in.
Dale laughed and groaned
at the same time. "Really?"
I think it might actually work,
Kelly replied. They both want
a lot of the same things. Libertee
makes videos and De-lisha makes
interesting things to put in them.
Plus they bonded over their hair,
so that's a way they share time.
Dale ruffled a hand through
her short dark hair. "How is
hair bonding?" she wondered.
They both love spending all day
Saturday washing and putting it up,
Kelly signed. I think it's a cultural thing.
"Oh yeah, right," said Dale. "I knew
a black officer who kept her hair in
these tiny braids that her sister made."
Kelly nodded. De-lisha has hair like that,
she signed. Libertee has big fluffy curls.
I saw a picture of them together.
They make a cute couple.
"That's encouraging, but still,
moving in after two dates?"
Dale said. "It's pretty fast."
Yes, Kelly signed. They went
through the first-date questions
already, so I encouraged them
to try Intellectual Foreplay.
"Did you say anything about
the speed?" Dale asked.
The risk in going too fast
was falling for someone who
wasn't as good a match as
you thought, but if these two
were really that well suited,
then more power to them.
It was Libertee's idea to go
that fast, but De-lisha was
willing to go along, Kelly signed.
I told De-lisha that if you go by
someone else's pace, it shows
how much you really care.
"I said the same thing, but
for the opposite reason!"
Dale said. "Young love."
I also told De-lisha that
when you find Ms. Right,
you should grab her so she
doesn't get away, Kelly signed.
Dale cracked up laughing.
* * *
Notes:
This poem's character, setting, and content notes are long, so they will appear separately.
janetmiles, ng_moonmoth, and jake67jake. It also fills the "If you go by someone else's pace, it shows how much you really care." square in my 10-1-21 card for the Fall Festival Bingo. This poem has been sponsored by ng_moonmoth. It belongs to the series Walking the Beat."If You Go by Someone Else's Pace"
One thing Dale and Kelly loved
about being older lesbians was
the chance to mentor younger ones.
Sometimes they volunteered with
the Queer Artists Collective from
the Massachusetts College of Art
and Design, helping the students
figure out sex, romance, and
how to be almost-actual-adults.
It was early October, so today
they were meeting up with the club
in Olmstead Park, which had benches
good for doing artwork en plein air
or just for sitting and talking.
Dale wound up chatting with
a girl named Amélia Pinto,
a Brazilian-American painter
and illustrator. She wanted
to show queer people of color
and their cultural items in
a more positive light.
Among her projects was
a series of still-life pictures
of symbolically queer objects.
Amélia was falling in love with
another girl, Fran Charpentier,
who was into industrial design
along with furniture making.
Fran wanted to make furniture
and other products for all kinds of
different body and family shapes.
The two girls seemed compatible,
but Amélia felt kind of antsy about
about the progress of the relationship.
"Fran sounds like an interesting person,"
Dale said. "So what's the hangup?"
"We've been on several dates, but
we've barely kissed," said Amélia.
"So?" Dale said. "Some people
prefer taking it slow to rushing."
"Yeah, Fran says that she's
demiromantic and it takes her
a while to warm up," Amélia said.
"If you go by someone else's pace,
it shows how much you really care,"
Dale pointed out. "So start there."
"I guess that makes sense,"
Amélia said. "I just don't want
to risk lesbian bed death, you know?"
"It's a little early to worry about that,
but consider this: people who have sex
too early don't have relationships as
good as those wait longer," said Dale.
"Why not?" Amélia said. "That
seems pretty counterintuitive."
"Ideas vary, but it could be
a distraction from communication
or the sex making people believe
that they are more connected
than they really are," said Dale.
"I suppose that makes sense,"
Amélia said. Then she brightened.
"Maybe I could do a series of pictures
about married couples, and watch
how they get along together."
Dale nodded. "Observing
experienced couples is
a good way to learn how
relationships work, or not."
"My parents love each other,
but they're not lesbians, so I'm
not sure how much use that
will be for me," said Amélia.
"A lot carries over," Dale said.
"Don't worry too much about
how fast you're going, and
just focus on having fun
while you get acquainted.
Really talk to each other."
"I'll try that," said Amélia.
"Hey, do you mind if I
sketch you? I mean, you
have that interesting cane,
and I like drawing people
with meaningful objects."
"Go ahead," Dale said,
folding her hands so that
her wedding ring showed.
"Oh, that's perfect!" Amélia said,
and pulled out her sketch kit.
It had a field journal, pens and
pencils, and a watercolor set.
With deft strokes, she sketched
Dale with her hands on the cane,
a glint of gold hinting at the ring.
Amélia fanned the page to help
the watercolors dry faster, then
popped open the rings and
handed the picture to Dale.
"You don't have to give me
the painting," Dale protested.
"I want you to have it, though,"
said Amélia. "I'm trying to make
more art of queerfolk, and that will
have more impact if I pass it around
than if I just keep it all to myself."
"Good point," Dale said. "I'll
have to hang this up at home."
By then, it was almost time to go,
so they headed back to the group.
Dale showed off the picture that
Amélia had given her, and Kelly
admired the talent that it showed.
Kelly had met up with De-lisha Leigh,
who knew American Sign Language since
her grandmother was hard of hearing.
De-lisha was in the Fibers program,
which included weaving, dyeing,
papermaking, and basketmaking
among various other subjects.
She also took summer intensives
on all kinds of sculpture, from clay
to mosaics to multimedia displays.
She wanted to make art objects and
props for film productions, especially
those that featured queer people
or some experimental theme.
De-lisha fell in love with this girl,
Libertee Williams, who's a film major,
Kelly signed. They've gone on
two dates and just moved in.
Dale laughed and groaned
at the same time. "Really?"
I think it might actually work,
Kelly replied. They both want
a lot of the same things. Libertee
makes videos and De-lisha makes
interesting things to put in them.
Plus they bonded over their hair,
so that's a way they share time.
Dale ruffled a hand through
her short dark hair. "How is
hair bonding?" she wondered.
They both love spending all day
Saturday washing and putting it up,
Kelly signed. I think it's a cultural thing.
"Oh yeah, right," said Dale. "I knew
a black officer who kept her hair in
these tiny braids that her sister made."
Kelly nodded. De-lisha has hair like that,
she signed. Libertee has big fluffy curls.
I saw a picture of them together.
They make a cute couple.
"That's encouraging, but still,
moving in after two dates?"
Dale said. "It's pretty fast."
Yes, Kelly signed. They went
through the first-date questions
already, so I encouraged them
to try Intellectual Foreplay.
"Did you say anything about
the speed?" Dale asked.
The risk in going too fast
was falling for someone who
wasn't as good a match as
you thought, but if these two
were really that well suited,
then more power to them.
It was Libertee's idea to go
that fast, but De-lisha was
willing to go along, Kelly signed.
I told De-lisha that if you go by
someone else's pace, it shows
how much you really care.
"I said the same thing, but
for the opposite reason!"
Dale said. "Young love."
I also told De-lisha that
when you find Ms. Right,
you should grab her so she
doesn't get away, Kelly signed.
Dale cracked up laughing.
* * *
Notes:
This poem's character, setting, and content notes are long, so they will appear separately.