By Misti Velvet Rainwater
Date: 11 February 2000

Needed

for awhile there I was thinking
     I wanted and needed
a man who could discuss Shakespeare
and J.D. Salinger and Ginsberg
          with me
while sipping complex white wine
and listening to my Beethoven CD
I was thinking my mate of choice
     would speak to me
in multi-syllable words
and like all evolved American men
he would cook for me
and regard me
as his equal
now, almost three years away from 30
I am thinking I need and want
    a man who feels
    more than he thinks
a cowboy would be fine
a charming bull rider
who lives in cheap motel rooms
as he travels the rodeo circuit
a Real Man
an Old School Man
the kind of man
who will drink beer with me
in bars that have
sawdust on the floor
and a jukebox in the corner
the kind of man who will
dance me around the floor
to "Let's Fall to Pieces Together"
   "Cold, Cold Heart"
   "Lukenbach, Texas"
   "We Were in Love"
the native Texan wild woman in me
     is coming out
      with a vengeance
and stomping to dust
my intellectual defenses
my I Am Woman Hear Me Roar! facade
my Hippie Chic Nobody
who hands out love like daisies
    to whatever fools
      happen to be 
     at the concert

I am more than this
I like to read
but I can join
 a book club
I like the Beatles
but I like the Bellamy Brothers, too
what do I REALLY like?
what do I REALLY want?
that is so simple
yet so hard
   to find!
I want a man
who will tame me
with merciless lovemaking
and hold me tight
  as we sleep
I want a man who will
   call me
every night that we're apart
   just to hear
     my voice
I want a man who will
   worship the woman
       in me
and cherish
   the girl
and if I can't have
   the worship
and the passion
I'll settle for 
   some need
-I need a man who needs 
my fire, my spirit, my full moon laughter
    all of me
and all the time
...any man can want me.
(i want)
(to be needed)