though I knew for sure
there'd be nothing of that
going on
if he had his way -
or on TV
telling the women out there
how, as a woman himself,
he knew how we felt.
His flirt's smile.
The one thing he never got right
was the voice.
A cling peach slithering out from its tin.
I gritted my teeth.
And this is my lover, I said,
the one time we met
at a glittering ball
Gritting one’s teeth is an expression that describes revulsion or stoicism in the face of something unpleasant. It is a concise way of saying that Mrs. Tiresias is by now repelled by her former husband.
From Mrs Tiresias