Mathilde Townsend, wealthy Washington society woman, wife of Peter G. Gerry and Sumner Welles (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

You endured her withering gaze
You had to
Her door was a ritual passageway
A way through
Her inspection is cold and precise
She means to
Makes us creatures of her own device
Agreed to

Like the crone she’s meticulously wise
She makes you
Hold your secrets in some other guise
You need to
Find the words that would lead to her smile
She has to
Yield at last to your presence and guile
And free you

And she speaks now her withering words
You came for
Finds you charming, if somewhat absurd
To be adored
And you know that you’ve passed now some test
You needed
And you’re now singled out from the rest
Superceded

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