You'll Make a Pretty Secretary

You can check your appearance in the glass ceiling
and sleep your way to the top.
The "top" is not very far down the hall.
Your dreams of the corner office will never come true.
You are "too blonde", "too pretty", "too female"
to have a valid thought.
Your suggestions are met with a condescending smile
and a "re-fill of coffee, please".  Sometimes you don't
even get the "please".
You wonder if you should cut your hair, wear power suits
and never smile.

Suddenly the glass ceiling feels too low and
You can't stand up to your full height.
You have to hunch down and pull your
shoulders in tight.
Watching the packs of men stroll by, smiling
and joking as men do, you realize
You don't want any part of this.
You don't want to cut your hair
Or wear the power suits

The glass ceiling can go fuck itself
and the men in the corner office can
Re-fill their own Goddamn coffee
as they jest about their golf swing
And where they will Summer this year.
You still don't know what you want to
be when you "grow up".
But not this, not ever.