I found this video maybe a year ago, probably from something someone posted on Facebook.  I honestly don’t remember.  All I know is I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it because I felt like it was written for me!  I can’t believe this is the first time I’ve shared it on this blog.  The video shows the British poet Mark Grist reciting this poem with the story it tells portrayed in the background, so to speak.  In a world where women are praised, admired, & renowned for physical beauty above all else, it’s so refreshing to be reminded that our brains are beautiful too.  Mr. Grist, you’re a genius.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmEbF2uhsZk

Here is the poem itself.

So, what do you go for in a girl?”
He crows, lifting a lager to his lips
Gestures where his mate sits
Downs his glass
“He prefers tits
I prefer ass.
What do you go for in a girl?”

I don’t feel comfortable
The air left the room a long time ago
All eyes are on me
Well, if you must know

I want a girl who reads
Yeah. Reads.
I’m not trying to call you a chauvinist
‘Cause I know you’re not alone in this
but…

I want a girl who reads
Who needs the written word
And uses the added vocabulary
She gleans from novels & poetry
To hold lively conversation
In a range of social situations

I want a girl who reads
Whose heart bleeds at the words of Graham Greene
Or even Heat magazine
Who’ll tie back her hair while reading Jane Eyre
And goes cover to cover with each waterstones three-for two offer
but I want a girl who doesn’t stop there

I want a girl who reads
Who feeds her addiction for fiction
With unusual poems & plays
That she hunts out in crooked bookshops for days & days & days
She’ll sit addicted at breakfast, soaking up the back of the cornflakes box
And the information she gets from what she reads makes her a total fox
‘Cause she’s interesting & unique
And her theories make me go weak at the knees

I want a girl who reads

A girl whose eyes will analyse
The menu over dinner
Who’ll use what she learns to kick my ass in arguments
So she always ends the winner
But she’ll still be sweet & she’ll still be flirty
‘Cause she loves the classics & the classics are dirty
So late at night she’d always have me in a stupor
As she paraphrases the raunchier moments from the works of Jilly Cooper

See, some guys prefer asses
Some prefer tits
And I’m not saying that I don’t like those bits
But what’s more important
What supersedes
Is a girl a with passion, wit, & dreams
So I’d like a girl who reads

I’m so glad my mom instilled in me a passion for reading at a very young age.  Some of my fondest memories of childhood are of browsing used bookstores with her.  To this day I find something magical about searching for & reading used books.  Buying a brand new book just doesn’t hold the same thrill as buying an older book that I know someone else has read before me.  I truly believe that both men & women who read on a regular basis are indeed more interesting, & thus sexier.  I believe there’s a quote out there that goes something like this & it could not be more true for me: A lifetime is not long enough to devour all the books I want to read.