feminism
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She is pleasing and delicate,
Attractive and entertaining.
Wind her up.
Listen as she sings
Her mundane, chilling tune.
And watch.
Watch as she does her little dance,
That stupid little dance.
All of my heroes were housewives
Smoke a cigarette and pour me some wine
Pop me a pill and I'll start to unwind
Today I feel griefUnlike any otherMy country has fallen In hands of angry men My mother weeps For whom I do not yet know Perhaps for my brotherWho fought for change But couldn’t bring it
hot summer sunrays
a flower growing between cracked cement
behind an abandoned house
after the animal activist event
he ravaged my body
and took my innocence
only sixteen,
You need to act more lady-like.
Your posture is bad,
sit up straight.
Cross your legs when you sit.
Never kiss a man on the first date,
MAGIC CARPET RIDE
Come hear my heart
Let the sound take you away
Feel the melted kiss from yesterday....
Like a floating feather
On a magic carpet ride
Together
I first learned what it was like to be a woman
When I was 10
And the men who were supposed to be my mentors
My teachers
My figures
My preacher
I am enough
But sometimes I don’t realize that
My imperfections define who I am
And often I may think that
My body isn’t perfect
IN MY DREAM
The clothes hanging on my line
Are not mine
Where have I been
Lost again
In my dream
A floating stream
None of the things belong to me
Not that I can see
I had my first menstrual cycle at 13
And i have spent my whole life hearing
About the gifts of womanhood
So answer this
Why am i awake late into the night
MY NATURAL HIGH
She's my natural high
My red carpet ride
To another world
Alone with me ....
The wind
that ruffles her hair
And the rain
NIGHT WALK
I want to walk with you at night.
Where you walk alone in the morning light.
When the rising sun pushes away the moon.
Where you walk six hours before noon ....
LIKE A SUMMER BREEZE
Walking with a cane
You came into my lane.
Jumbled my ways
My nights became days.
I’ve felt this breeze before
I thought. For sure!
OUT OF TOUCH
You're feeling bad
Out of touch .... aren't you girl?
Life has taken you on a whirl
Don't let it steal your joy
You're not in anyone's employ....
YOU SAY
You say ... only time will tell.
I say ... I want to hear your heart's bell.
I don’t need you.
But my heart wants to.
My soul does not need you.
BONNIE and CLYDE
The clock passed the covid curfew
And I'm still with you.
On stolen time
Trying to see new love rhyme.
We are Bonnie and Clyde
Lovers on the hide.
ON A SWING
In the morning when the sun clicks on and she gives a sighAt the last evening star dancing in the pale blue skyThat's when I dream
Of her and me
On a swing....
VULNERABILITY
It’s a marvelous sight
to open the curtain
and give the stage
to vulnerability
with her sweet rage
she's the sister of love
so free
ARTS GARAGE
I loved each moment
At Arts Garage
A blues music barrage
Then walking the street at large...
Your touch
Your smile
And for a little while
LAY WITH LOVE
All I want to do Is make love to you With poetryWith musicAnd a caress or two
That boils your heart
A dreamy kiss
That melts like butter in sun
BEING MY REAL
What matters now is how I feel
and being my real.....
I am drifting on my boat and you're on shore
Waving to me.. shouting.. "give me more"
IT FLOWS THROUGH ME
The rising sun kisses the day
The breeze flows to me
It has something to say ....
It ruffles my hair
I wonder what is to be
What we will discover
Gypsy Queen. On me leanBe my Gypsy Lover....
The song you sing Makes love swing
So play away
To my heart each day
And be my Gypsy lover....
To the wind I will sing:
MELTED KISS
That night
We danced tight
To the rhythms of the floor
Wanting the band to play more
At Club Colette
With the beach jet set....
It was so so right
TABLE 26
I must sayYou were lovely today
With laughter of fun
I long the return of your sun
And to play
With Your smile of wonder
And dance with you
Untill dawn at six
EVERY MOVE
I’m free to love. Let me be free. A free lover. To All of you.
If you need me Call my name. If you want me You can do the same.
SHOOTING STAR
Shooting star Yet so farDancing on the ocean breezeSoundless musicPlays on let it burn with ease That's what it does....
YOU, ME and THE SEA
The wind carried the ocean’s voice to me
she whispered:
“Come to me my lover
I hear you love another
Bring her to me
IT’S ALL ABOUT LOVE
Did you feel the rain?
The pictures and words
that floated by tonight...
Did you listen To the rain?
That tapped your shoulder
AND WE FOUND ALL THAT
I know agony.
I know victory.
I thought I knew love...
My nights sleeping with shadows
of empty arms.
And lonely dreams
MY HEART FLIES
My heart flies to you
No one in the world
Moves me like you do..
Wings to lift my heart
When we are apart
Until I'm in your arms
Once again
And then...
LOVE TELLS NO LIES
Tell me what it's like
To see a sad man
From inside your eyes...
Do we know
How to say
I am sorry
Not to worry....
Show me the way....
BUTTERFLIES AND SWEET DREAMS
A moment together filled with butterflies and sweet dreams.
Like the dark wind of the night,
You left the poet in my heart wanting
As you sang your song...
THE MUSIC OF MY HEART
I heard the kiss
you blew
my way.
It brought me to you.
This lover's play ...
All through the
morning rain
I gaze and say.
A LOVER'S NOTION
How could you knowI miss you so....
We've been apartImprisoned by disdainListen to my heartLet it explain....
JULY 12
Twenty weeks ago In a boat on a floating cloud With marmalade trees and Milky Way skies
Nothing but real allowedOnly natural highs....
A woman has rights,
But I’m told it’s her choice if she dies on the table,
Surgical steel stabbed through the womb,
Bleeding out, bleeding death,
Bleeding money.
A woman has rights,
Lately I have realized something about myself that I never have before,
And I wish it hadn't taken me long to realize that when one closes, there is always another door.
They ask my why I believe in God
When God doesn’t do shit
When God is not there when young men become refugees of war
When children’s bodies shrivel up from starvation
There are moments when I feel the injustice to my gender more prominently
When I am told in my job orientation that my attire is restricted for the men’s comfortability
Who left the tap on?
When his building storm spills out,She is made to carry the overflow
He refuses to call a plumberAnd there’s only so much flooding this room can take
I used to believe that this world was fair
That equality was everywhere, didn’t know it was rare
I was naive to believe that people are good
Confused, unbalanced, scared --
The control is gone -
What is my fare?
Milestone hit -- little achieved.
What to do - where to go...
Define passion... define relieved...
Confused, unbalanced, scared --
The control is gone -
What is my fare?
Milestone hit -- little achieved.
What to do - where to go...
Define passion... define relieved...
Like schroedingers cat
The tank top strap you’re looking at
Wondering if it’s a bra or something far less scandalous
Is simultaneously both
To be clear
I am queer.
Not yet safe,
Not yet free.
When I see people stand for their rights,
It inspires me to fight.
Fight for a better future for everyone in need.
She speaks to me in seafoam.
Born beautiful, she kissed my eyelids and gave me her love of everything.
Her fingertips are callused from centuries of knotting heartstrings.
When I was around sixteen, I became hyper aware of how the boys my age categorized the girls around them.The ones they found attractive were worthy of attention, the others... not so much.
Alright, sweetheart.
What’s this about acting the victim,
Again?
Your dress is stained, my dear,
And your hair a rat’s nest.
don’t look at me like that
as if you felt what i felt
don’t try to empathize
to make yourself feel better
and then ignore me when i’m falling apart
don’t come near
or look into my eyes
C-o-l-l-e-e-nI’d sound out the letters when I’d write them
Tiny hand flexed ungracefully around a crayon.
Words, form from bold strokes.
Watching reflections chased down walkways
As it’s cold and rainy on a day like today
When normally the mood would be ruined
But somehow - the reflection turns up the spirit
The butterflies wings flutter
The volume of a helicopter
The knife fell from the butter
Clank on the kitchen floor
She only wants her Mother
O, Father you are a great planter
You’ve planted my seed in this island
and watched me grow into a tree
“You owe it to me”
He says, with a genuine tone
“Come with me girl
Keep me company
Don’t you leave me all alone”
“No”
“You’re nothing but a dirty, nasty female”
His words rang in my ear
Rang in the air
The venom in his tone flooded the classroom
I know I’m beautiful.
The compliments are nice…
But not new.
Not meaningful.
Not unique.
You told me I was wearing a nice shirt-
You determine my worth from the length of my skirt
You shame me for my femininty
my worth is my own, my power is my sexuality
you're afraid of the power we hold
because under all the folds you can see our strength
She was born of woman as a word,
swaddled in question marks but cooed
with answers - statements of soothing reassurance
I wear lightning strikes on my hips and thighs as battle scars to remind me who I am, and what I have overcome.
She saw beauty in your scars and wickedness in your eyes.
She found a certain side of you that danced with the demons at her side.
She called them friend yet kept them from you, for the darkness was to brutal to be subdued.
Rape Culture
I was raped.
He took it all away.
And what could Athena do?
I do not blame her. She gave me power.
If Medusa was a modern-day woman, I imagine she would be a part of the MeToo movement.
We weren't singing for you
We aren’t posting for you
You call us vane?
Yet you picture us this way
In your mind
Made us look at ourselves like
Her intestines have been tied into bows
By the twisted ways of Poseidon.
They decorate her like we do the dead,
And she is a skeleton waiting for dressing.
They all ask,
so go ahead.
She always knows it's coming.
"How does it feel?"
It's always snickered,
under breath.
Like the brittle bones of their cowardice
Her goal was to make a change in the world
To influence politics and government
She was Athena
Number 1 in her class
President of the Debate team
my hair used to be my most prized possession
(so i cut it shoulder-length and dyed it black)
as were my dignity and worth, but right now
Deborah Sampson, you have a courage
That we look at now with admiration
I would have done the same
If they won't let us fight as ourselves
We will fight as them
I think it would have been glory
When we have gone through something traumatic like a guy trying to get in our pants when we are not wanting it
Or we are assaulted or in an abusive relationship
No more swooshes on black bands
a powerful woman, once forgotten
she is feared by men of all lands
Srong, glowing, winner
fast, competitive, sinner
VICTORY emblazoned on her back
according to myth,
the gorgon was not always a monster
until the day she and the god of the sea were caught together on Athena’s sacred grounds
1. When I was a child, I thought my hair a leash, an agony, a nest for rats, so I took up my scissors to hack and slice and cut until it was gone.
Her skin is the ebony of tree bark,
Her hair and her uniform are both writhing shades of blue,
for millenia her kind were treated as serpents,
always hiding, scheming, "witches" they cried for centuries.
always eternal was medusa, watching from shadows cast upon
her everglowing face.
Feminist or Feminazi?
No one knows the answer.
For the truth is, no one bothered to look any deeper.
Instead, they look at her and smirk and sneer in disgust,
Unaware of her stature as a high-ranking goddess.
Artemis
doesn’t actually care
if you’re celibate.
She protects virgin girls, yes,
but also women
(and men)
poemdon't try to hold me down, i never asked for thatbiology meets ontology and now i'm seeing something sinister in that luminous, magnetic gleam in those eyes.
hey girls
listen close
i have something to tell you
you don’t need a man to be worthy
just in case you didn’t hear me
Try
When I was a child
I was innocent
I was free as the leaves I chased
I was living in wonder.
but Childhood leaves us.
I don’t want to write just another feminist poem but here I am, writing just another feminist poem
But I don’t want to be here writing just another feminist poem or even a feminist poem
0 degrees:
When you are born a girl pink is your life.
Your shoes, your dress, your hair bow.
It's a pretty cool color.
90 degrees:
It's funny how
These days
Kids jump into "I love You"s
Like they jump into cold, glistening pools during California Summers
When I got on my knees for church
And asked who am I doing this for?
When I watched a man die on the street
And wondered why anyone need be poor?
When I heard students cry out for peers shot dead
You say I’m hysterical because
I fear the uncontrollable, the fallible
I cry for those struggling and crumbling
I panic under stress, becoming a mess
When I was 9, my parents separated, to be divorced 4 years later after strung out custody hearings and he said/she said bullshit in avoidance of signing one simple document.For the entire month of May that year, I did not see my mother.
The past three years have been the
hardest
strongest
most vulnerable
time of my life.
2016
granny died suddenly, stage 4 pancreatic cancer
two weeks,
three days,
gone.
I gazed at the ocean, just to see your face.
Shift the tides with a smile, the definition of grace,
Do even you know what's behind the mask you where?
Or are you a victim of your own existential dispair?
Something new or that one thing daily
Nobody can ever guess what the day will hold
As humans we can either stay to what we know
Something new or that one thing daily
Nobody can ever guess what the day will hold
As humans we can either stay to what we know
i’ve seen people
in my own mirrors
come and go like seasons
and just like summer
soaks up the heat of spring,
In a stereotypical patriarchal society,
I would soon have wifely duties
and keep my mouth shut.
How boring.
"Your poor boyfriend," they say
because I remind him, in the future,
Mid-January is the silent time.
This time all printed words have ignored.
This day the whole of them fall quiet.
They dare not to speak of the dead ones,
Or of poverty-stricken women,
I became a real waitress
when I started moving through tables with my hips
leaning over the table without spilling.
At night, men
tumble out of pick-up trucks.
From across the parking lot, I hold
Theseus’s paradox raises the question
If a ship’s parts are replaced as they rot
One by one, until all of the parts are new,
Is it the same ship?
And what else do you expect her to endure?
The mountains she climbed
Wasn't enough for you to ensure?
The burden she bore,
The mask of happiness she wore,
red faced offender...
whistle toned disrespect stapled to my thighs,, left from before,,
no, this is not your invite.
How to be pretty if you are unfortunate with your looks; a WikiHow
Be realistic, are you “ugly” or just simply average?
Average is normal
Isn't it odd that I consider myself lucky
That no unwanted man has ever put his grubby hands on me?
This is not about luck though, or the clothes I've been wearing
I am of a white sun against a blue sky, and a blue star against a white expanse. My body is a legacy that spans centuries, continents, cultures, and creeds, sustained by lo mein and latkes alike.
Doves fly high in the sky
So you too have chosen to fly
With light bouncing off of your back
To be or not to be
an eye catching feather
an accomplishment
The one bees fly in the rain
Wombs.
It’s where we all come from
And it would be wise to
Respect
Them.
Too many times
It’s taken upon
Men
To neglect
Them.
Degrade them.
And even
It really breaks my heart
To see that we made it this far
But nevertheless they’re here
And they want the progress to disappear
It is stunning in the wrong way
They don’t leave us space to have a say
giver of birth
and the reason of me
you sacrificed your hunger
so i could feed off of your breast
you gave up sleep
so i could have mine
oh how i wish i could remember your face
Statue
Pure and white
Immortal in her fright
Carved by a man
Defiled by one too
The horror of a woman
Is multiplied when considering
His manipulation
In her tattered notebook,
She finds solace.
The yellowing crinkled pages aboard a vessel, tucked away behind a cabin door.
Much like herself, the faded treasures she hides have yet to wash ashore.
“Do you think you can forgive me?”
He asked me this while there was still blood between my teeth.
He asked me this while I held my own right thumb, because
Fuck me Ass Kicking Pumps
I once read a poem about shoes;
that one shouldn't wear fuck me pumps
but rather combat boots
to stomp all over the patriarchy.
But I disagree.
I am 12 years old
Im sitting in my sixth grade science class
During our health unit
And giggling with my friends
About the “magical” goings-on
My manShe's a manA man, the one who puts food on the plates, Pays the bills and stillShe makes sure everyone ate she’s a man A man, to work all day and rest at home, Takes on those dutiesyet continues to assure you that you own that thrown A wo-
My heart moves like a battalion riding into battle
I can feel every one of my muscles yelling at me
Like the other side of a frozen lake, coy fish straining in the water
To see the world as a series of comparisons
Grass like a bent straw
Sky, the color of the walls of my room
To see the walls and see only the candy coating
Of childhood Easter
Hunting for candy with my sister
Your tiny hands in your father's palms
you know he will never let go
You can never doubt a father's love
Until another man takes your hand
Until another man tell you they are not liek the rest
You water me with your reassurance
You made me feel beautiful
You dowzed me with sun
You forgot to water me
You left me to welt
You told me I was pretty
Yet you left me out to welt
I made one joke about periods,
And you said you didn't want to hear that stuff.
Said it made you uncomfortable.
Why should I care?
Shall I listen like you did,
When I asked you not to make rape jokes?
Why am I the easy one when you too, were in the act?
Why does my vagina limit me, to every single terrible thing just associated with sex?
Why can’t a girl want sex, and not be a hoe?
But he can want sex and get cheers?
I stand my head held high
My pride not tarnished
Gay, straight, black, white, rich, poor
We are women
We don't need the approval of men
We don't need the snarky comments
to the girls who deserve better,cute boy smiles at youcute boy touches your handjust a brushjust one f
to You--
if You look out onto that manhattan skyline
and You imagined that You
You were God,
gliding
to You--
if You look out onto that manhattan skyline
and You imagined that You
You were God,
gliding
Warning!
Woman on the loose:broken free, rank with sweat, blood on her chest.
She’s gone wild, riled at the stench,
cloaked in the gore of her own sex.
The first time I was catcalled I was 14 years old, wide-eyed and terrifiedRiding my bike home in the cold,My suburban oasis was merely a mirage
Dear Womanhood,
Thank you for your strength
For teaching me to hold my head high
For giving me the will to fight
Dear Womanhood,
You have made me cry
Talking.
Talking is hard.
Breathing, eating, sleeping.
It all seems hard.
From the time I was a young girl to now, everything has been hard.
Exspressing my feelings is hard but I have a dream.
we are people, not objects or products, not apologies or excusesoften dehumanized and abused, as if we are not your sisters, mothers and daughtersmen have the audacity to mistreat
I know you weren't built for me, but
Damn,
Can you give me a bone?
I was born with not one, not two, but three minority identifiers:
Black, female, bisexual.
Thank goodness I believe in the one,
Je suis une femmeA strong one at leastOne that laughsOne that criesOne that screamsOne that diesMorbid, gruesome, secretiveA box of many charms
God, our mother,
my mother,
When you formed me, incubated me
Was I apart of your being
did you speak in my voice
as I sometimes speak in yours?
how dare women have confidence
How dare women enjoy
dominating men in the bed room,
giving an endless faith
to Herself.
That girl you call easy?
She goes home with any guy because
I’m a woman, and I am angry.
I am angry that I have to do more,
Learn more,
Pay more,
Work more,
Take more.
I’m a woman, and I am angry.
I am angry that I have to do more,
Learn more,
Pay more,
Work more,
Take more.
Sleep around player.
Don’t be a pussy.
Grab her by the pussy.
My legs are shut,
Crossed,
And locked with my chastity belt.
Dear society, Thank you for being such a great friend. Thank you for telling women that they are worthless unless they have double-d breasts and wear a size zero. Thank you for telling African Americans that they are only beautiful when they don w
Dear young women,
One day, you'll have your hair pulled by a boy and
You'll hear your grandpa tell you he just has a crush on you,
That he's just a boy, so what else could you expect?
This is to fight back,
not violently but gradually
in the streets to meet the justice
they deserve,
with fists tight and high,
as high as skyscrapers
and as low as the streets;
Smooth skin, made up face, forced smile.
Perfect body.
Why should I conform to society's standards?
My leg hair has grown, my face is bare, my smile is natural.
My body is imperfect.
And I love it.
If the illusion that I, born with the same number of vertebrae as you were, have somehow grown up to shrink down,half of what is your ribcage being my entire endoskeleton; that men grow up raw and sweet, like the water from the youngest streams, m
I grew up calling my vagina a 'chhee-chhee'
('Chee' being a Hindi interjection for 'disgust')
Honestly,my vagina wasn't that bad a stuff,
But,my mum taught me that,
So,it got to be correct
The world today is at war.
People screaming for more-
More peace, more love,
more reaching for the stars above.
No more war, no more lies,
no more spit in our people's eyes.
I think it is, without a doubt, a
necessity that you shut your mouth.
I’m made of time, it’s how we grow,
So why not just take it slow?
He knelt down on one knee for you
Eyes to yours, hand in his pocket
Your gaze jumping everywhere except for his
Your chest dropped to your stomach, thoughts becoming silent prayers
To the boys who don't believe in feminism
I want to take you on a journey
So close your eyes
And I'll open them for you
Extraordinary
Picture a first generation girl.
Her parents, never finished high school.
Her older brother, spent the first 8 years of his life without seeing his father
Girls are meant to be the assistant in a magic show
Better seen not heard
We should appear and disappear like the bunny out of your hat
or the dove from your cloak.
We have to change into whatever you want...
The powerful women
leap with joy over
the painted and indelible story
they killed quietly
with the eve of everything true.
In unconventional status,
they talk of
a paradise for triumph,
Pretty
Skinny
Perfect
words that society chooses for us
You say
I run like a girl,
scream like a girl,
Pretty
Skinny
Perfect
words that society chooses for us
You say
I run like a girl,
scream like a girl,
Dear Girl
They will be tiring
They will ask you to accumulate layer after layer
As if a snow storm were brewing on the horizon
They say that love always wins,
but sometimes I can't be sure.
I want to believe the world can be a safe place for me,
but when I'm downtown for open mic, it's always:
Check your skirt length.
Do I need feminism? Well personally no. Let me tell you why...
I don't need feminism because I have choices. I can go to college and major in any field I want. From Education to Engineering.
Aurora is the definition of beauty- skinny and p-r-e-t-t-y.
Who needs a personality when men will fall for your appearance?
Ariel is selfless and brave.
Six thousand five hundred and seventy days.
In this tower,
Pacing the floors,
Memorizing the walls,
Alone,
For six thousand five hundred and seventy days.
Gothel is fond of books.
We all know the story of Cinderella
Snuck out, lost a shoe and met a fella
They change the story as time went by
But I have the non-fiction, refreshing lines
She did sneak out, she lost the heel,
Once upon a time, there were three little pigs
They were female, with legs like twigs
They disobeyed the social construct
Sexism: from their lives it was plucked
Once upon a fairy tale
A princess kissed a stranger
She didn't quite know who he was;
Only that he'd saved her.
He climbed the tallest tower
While the dragon slept nearby
You know......
It's f*cked up when you realize that every adjective that describes you has to be justified and equalized through a movement.
From women's rights, to civil rights, and gay rights,
The Beast was mean,
but then he turned kind.
I came clean,
I wanted him to be mine.
Happily ever after, you say?
Maybe so.
But each and every day,
I wonder if I should have said no.
What if Aurora didn't want to be in love,what if she fell "asleep" to avoid,the pain of the pressure from her surperiors above
Once upon a time
When knights in armor shined
There waited a young princess
Who had many hobbies and interests
Yet at the very thought of marriage, she felt herself grow distant
tiana didn't ask for a prince
she was an entrepeneur
she didn't ask for her best friend to be a rich white girl
but she took it with grace
she wasn't supposed to turn into a frog
Out of her stepmother's house she went,
because self care is important.
She never really needed anyone anyway,
but the guy from the last ball keeps calling her name.
She finds her own apartment,
Snow White doesn't stay in a house.
She doesn't depend on a variety of dwarves who grump about.
She goes outside.
And she shows the world how she can freeze hell over with one stare.
Snow White doesn't stay in a house.
She doesn't depend on a variety of dwarves who grump about.
She goes outside.
And she shows the world how she can freeze hell over with one stare.
Once upon a time there was a story that was left untold
Where the wicked queen was even more wicked and had somewhat happy life,
She let the rain fall, and let the witch come
Your voice is one of the most powerful instruments you are born with,
It has both ended wars and started them all with a flick of a tongue.
It conveys our emotions and sings our songs.
Once upon a time,
in a land far away,
there lived a beautiful princess
whose name was Aurora.
Her hair as golden as sunshine on a sunflower,
lips as red as the red rose,
Their hands intertwined, eyes locked, lips magnetize, claiming intimacy.But his clever lines don't tamper with her pastUnless he's eager to ask"How many boyfriends have you had?"
in a better world
Red could walk through the woods
on her own,
(or, if she was black and male and) hooded,
without fear of wolves/men;
the things that creep in the shadows.
Dear feminists.
I'm sorry for your losses, you tried hard.
But despite all your efforts to rule the world,
you are still a slave.
Just like me.
Every black man, white man, and woman of every race.
The young man approached
Lips parting like petals
His eyes shining like medals
He pressed his mouth against hers in a moment of cool triumph.
True love’s eternal promise whispered in his ear,
once upon a time, a time in the distant.
a time for the future.
a time too far out of reach for the princess of today.
we are the the warriors, the godesses.
the nuturers,
the consultants,
She can always see her princess-perfect heart shaped face in the window
Doe eyes just big enough to weigh down the organ she pretends is still her heart
The scene always opens with a girl in rags
On the floor
Tired and overworked
Exhausted and sore.
The archetype who deserves so much more.
Do not call her beautiful
Instead
Call her powerful
Call her loyal
Describe the pleasant ache
You get in your cheeks
my body might not be strong enough to be a shield
but my mind is undeniably a sword
my voice summons me to the forefront
and the world is my battlefield—
Why can’t a woman be a man?
And why can’t a man be a woman?
Generations have passed and nothing is subdued.
The W(a)(e)ighting Game
Wait or weight
Which will I choose
Shall I choose to wait while my Prince
Battles a Dragon’s fumes
Once upon a time,
In a land obviously far, far away,
There was another princess crying,
because her mom was taken away.
I mean come on Disney,
I think it is safe to say we, the girls and women, of this millennial are powerful.
We shout and protest to change the world.
The silent ones, subdued are just as powerful, with all the oppression they endure.
Our country 'tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
To you I sing;
White men signing abortion laws
That kill women for no cause
Can you not see your flaws?
Let freedom ring
America the great
The beautiful
The selfish
The blind
The ignorant
When will you realize that women are much more
More than
America the free, America the brave
America where I am looked down upon for the cadence of my name
America where my people are slaughtered in the streets
America where murderers with a badge walk free
Your ribs are screaming at the surface of your skin, your spine like jagged mountains splitting your back
The light in your eyes is hidden behind a film of cigarette smoke and sadness
Dear America,
You suck
Opening statement: 'you suck'
The common phrase of common folk; terrible
I have severe chronic depression, insomnia, social anxiety, and yes, I identify as a pansexual
(America Poem) a Quartet of horse-Men/Women/People/Children of Apathetic Apocalypse! and redemption-
part one:
IAMIAMIAM, or
Is this how you think? I am trying to understand
1.1: the moderate
I dressed my baby!*
'Merica
Is the old man who stopped and turned
To snarl at my mothers beige skin
In the dairy aisle without shame
It is the voice in my head saying
I'll never be able to hold my girlfriends hand
When was the last time a young girl wasn’t dress-coded or sexualized just because it was 85 degrees outside?
When was the last time an immigrant earned enough money from one job to support their family?
I didn’t hear the word “black”
used to describe my fellow classmate,
until third grade. Kids joked innocently
and said that I was “yellow.”
Confused,
Sometimes it’s heartbreaking to think
The American Dream may be corrupted
Not what it used to be
When we once dreamt of being free
For some in America
We the people
Are the future of this country.
We have reached an age
Beyond which the future is unclear.
So, as much as we can,
You say I am a woman,
I am not fit to rule,
But I have been ruling over this kingdom
As long as I’ve been alive.
One day I will make you proud
I will make all your dreams come true
I will channel back into the younger me
Who wasn't afraid of anyone or anything
Even though I am still fearless
I fear some things
Oh, can you see?
The protestors in the early light
So proudly we march
To regain our stolen rights
Rainbow stripes and loud cries
Break the silence of the day
Throughout the world we marched
We have a world to win
So stand up with pride
Without women
the world would collapse from the broken stilts on which it stands
Each day you wake up
and each day the pledge is heard
some stand up and put their hand on their hearts
but others stay seated
For is it really true?
One nation under god with liberty and ¨Justice¨ for all
I was told as a kidthat I was born in the best country.The strongest, the bravest,the hero of every story.
We are praised for being independent, strong willed, and educated
But when we rise to fight for the rights of others, told:
“Don’t go burning your bra”
The heterosexual white men of our country are blinded with their star-spangled eyes,
As the rest of us become motivated and brave.
Yes, this may be the “land of the free”,
we are
america the brave
do you see us?
we are here
feet pressed firmly into american soil
and we will not back down
these are my sisters and my brothers
“Grab them by the p***y”
Is that all women are to the president?
Something to be groped and violated?
Fade up lights 2 and 3!
We want to have a general wash on the poverty,
So the audience can see but not truly see the details of
The decaying clothes and caved in stomachs and
America made me,
half believing in my dreams
half knowing I would have to fight for my life
battling the words meant to kill me,
giants spitting words
Don’t tell me what I am meant to wantDon’t limit me to your brain’s capacitySociety was only made to flauntthe very flaws within societyA culture built on fear and hateWhat other outcome could be in store?A woman’s job is it sit and waitAny more t
I sit on the living room floor
and eat a bowl of unhealthily saccharine
breakfast food at 6:33, ante meridiem.
This year I learned
that my body didn’t belong to me
and that sexuality didn’t matter
because men who thought they owned me
decided that I didn’t matter.
Girls around me
aching
mommy,you told me i was made ofthe galaxyand its brightest stars.then why did grandpa frown upon my sightand make us sit at another table?
I am
A woman
Belittled
Degraded
Insignificant
The consequences of my
Gender
I watch white
wealthy
middle-aged
men
in stiff suits
pick and chose
These streetlights, overhead bus lights, flashing alley bulbs,
The flickering, the only light of holy left here.
Churches keep their doors shut,
Eyes, the only thing illuminated without lights on,
A year ago I would drop pioson in every drink
I would lock myself in a tall tower
I would stab myself in the back
I was shocked everytime it bled
No one teaches you how to stop hurting yourself
Women are taught from the day we are tiny bundles in our mother’s arms that our bodies are nothing but pocket change for man to squander.
“Don’t talk too loudly.
Don’t hunch your shoulders.
As I sat in my world history class the words, “change and continuity over time” played in my head like a broken record.
Womanhood --
Coming up in me, about to burst like a hot spring.
When you're told, told all of the time that you can't --
That you can't shatter or break out of that "bell jar".
Hell Yeah! I have thunder thighs,
And you better believe I have lightning to go with them:
Purple and white zig-zags flashing across my upper legs, stomach, and butt.
My torso is formed by soft rolling hills-
You'll sit on a friend's chair,
hands fumbling in your lap
as bright red tresses float down
Like leaves in autumn.
When you look in the mirror you might
skim a hand over your head,
I truly believe that every human on this Earth is born with a desire to save the world,
and somewhere along the way,
we realize that this world does not want to be saved.
You can’t play footsies with
combat boots
Thick like your thighs
Heavy like your body
There are minimal downsides to being a Poet,
But one of the few is that it's difficult to simultaneously be One
As well as the girl you want me to be.
It's difficult becuase we'll be in English class,
I'm angry
I have no idea why the fuck why, but if I did, I'd do something about it
I'm angry
If I knew why the hell I was angry I'd tell you. But I don't, so I won't, because I can't
I'm angry
“Women these days think they
Can do whatever they want
with their bodies-
That is false.”Said my community preacher:
“Women these days think they
Can do whatever they want
with their bodies-
That is false.”Said my community preacher:
“Women these days think they
Can do whatever they want
with their bodies-
That is false.”Said my community preacher:
Change, defined as that of growth and maturity within ones self, change is when you can go outside and feel as though you're strong enough to face the world...I wish I changed, I wish I changed to understand the difference from right to wrong, lef
Intricate colors, soft to the touch
Hair, only tangled in two places
Smear on minerals, doesn't mean much
Painting smiles on various faces
From conception,
we spend the next nine months
wrapped in a cocoon
of our mother's protection.
Our cells
come together to form
At night the same nightmare plays over and over. I tell myself that women shouldn’t think, not even alone at night, but the nightmare still prevails. I am sweaty and panting. My legs are sprawled open.
I was born this way.And because I was born this way, I was given a keyboard.Every child gets one.My keyboard has about 88 keys.Maybe less. Maybe more.It just depends on what you see when you look out the window.
Look at those lines on him.What are you talking about? Those are not lines.Look at those lines on him, oh no.He cannot have lines.Look at those lines on him!He will be fine.
At age 5 I heard that 'boys will be boys'
I learned that boys had more privileges than I because they were luckily born into it
At age 10 my mother told me to act proper, say your please and thank you's, don't speak out
How would it feel if you put your bloodsweatandtears into advancing the world
And no one knew your name
No one knew how hard you tried
I stroke my phalic rudder And pretend It is in fact a physical extension The hard sex of phantom me And penetrate my lovers starfish kiss With deep grind And enjoy the motion of my masculinity I wear this side of me Extending proud Throug
I have hair on my legs, under my arms, and on my crotch,
But I do not consider it to be any different than the hair on my head.
Tampons.
Tampons are s e c r e t.
Be quiet, honey, be
Quiet, now.
Where are the tampons?
NO, child.
You must say
'feminine products'.
To make it less
Satisfaction guaranteed
To men women only please
We work and slave
Each day and night
Not to ours, but men's delight
They cat-call us to gain more recruits
Join the parade, bring forth your use
It is boys like you who consciously
Brainwash girls
And preach how “natural” is better
And overly sexualize her body as if they weren’t a breathing human
Modern madness mashes with my malten mind,
How did we find these pictures in which we confide?
Give me love,
Not lessons where you lied.
No wonder our children cower and hide.
"Yes, hello teacher, I hope your summer's been fine.
No, I did not find the homework to be all that challenging."
I'll try to make pleasant conversation
as I sit here on my knees, uncomfortably watching
I am not bubblegum
You keep thinking you can just chew me as long as you want
But I burn your tongue and dissolve
So you reach for new sticks wondering what's going wrong
“your fingertips are dragonflies”
A dragonfly perched on my shoulder
And crawled up my neck
I didn’t notice.
I sipped lemonade,
When I look at my reflection I see me
My whole - dark eyes like a shimmering sea
I see a girl when I look at me
When I look at the news
To the boys who feel disgusted by women on their periods and the young ladies who fear womanhood because of it.
Here’s a sneak peak into our leak week:
Period 1: AP U.S. History
That moment, where words from my mind
Flow through my hand and into my pen
That moment, when all of the thoughts
Become organized, and no longer scream
Are you listening?! Can you hear me...
Do you even care?
Women in the Web by Kari Barge
Things have changed
We may not be burned at the stake
But we are forced to fake…
feminism helps me describe with the anger<br>
i have felt for so long but could not put into words <br>
feminism helps me understand why others slut shame me <br>
You were a child
who didn't belong in one place or the other.
How could you respond to the taunts that still haunt your deep thoughts?
Between the father that hurt you
and the mother that gave you up
Your actions are suppressive.
Your words are condescending.
When you speak, you reprimand.
Your lectures are never ending.
You ask for the truth and I tell you,
I walk along, head held high,
No single man can touch my pride.
I am alone, but my heart is full,
Not a single moment I feel dull.
It was not always like this,
I used to hate myself and diss
to say that i’m “distracted” would be an understatement
the way yonder shoulder radiates, the opaline flesh revealed;
a testament to the raw fertility of the deltoid;
You are a man.
You are a man that with a woman created a family, but also destroyed it.
You are a father.
You are a father who helped us learned to play sports, but cared more to be the "all-star" yourself.
flowers don't grow among thistles
the ones that do don't survive
they're choked out
by a tale of mice and men
flowers don't grow among thorns
they grow with them
and become them
Don't hate the girl in the looking-glass
what has she done to you?
She's done nothing
but try to take care of you.
Don't pick apart her flaws
She made them up for you.
when you left me I killed
a spider crawling down my walls
screaming at a friend that
now I have to be strong
as I crossed the gap into her universe
before you left me you killed
Tell her that the way her bones stick out from her body is sexy
Explain to her that you don’t like “big girls”
Tell her that the gap in her thighs
From a young age, we female-bodied people are taught many things:
That our worth will not depend on who we are inside, but instead on
The size of our waists,
People will say that women today have no freedom
But this goes far back
For the times have not changed
We've only taken steps back.
Women no matter their race are always paid less
But it seems we're only nice
Teacup.
Clarinet.
Napkin.
The places I leave my mark define me.
If I want to put my stain on the inside of a football helmet,
LET ME.
I wore a t shirt that read SCHOOL SUCKS last week to school. My teacher however did not like it so he asks me something along the lines of "Why exactly does school suck?" And in a attempt to respond I think. "How ironic of me...
It's an echo of society
it instills this insecurity
and encourages us
to fade into obscurity
to accept medicority
lest we be criticized
to refuse idolization
a compliment little more than
Some are made to be mothers,
Some are made to be wives.
I was made to mount the air,
And live a thousand lives.
What is that I hear,
In the wind's lusty song?
'Tis the moon calling my name,
Dear class,
Welcome to 2016.
where we’ve had someone walk on the moon
and a black president
but still haven’t completely wiped the dust from the word
I can’t live without feminism,
Feminism,
because it powers the ideology of organizations like Girls Who Code
Without which I likely wouldn’t have studied Computer Science
I can’t live without feminism,
Feminism,
because it powers the ideology of organizations like Girls Who Code
Without which I likely wouldn’t have studied Computer Science
This is a poem that my friend, Veronica, and I wrote. Hope you enjoy!
Your feedback would be greatly appreciated. (:
Thick
You called me that
Tonight.
I opened myself up
i do not have the might
to gather my makeshift wings of paper maché and tacky glue
and leave this cardboard labyrinth with one entrance
because the minotaur is my only friend here
and i am not your drowning icarus.
In elementary school they teach you three basic rules:
1. Be honest
2. Don’t steal
3. Respect others
fun fact: the daughters of the south asian diaspora have some of the highest suicide rates in the united states of america.
I need feminism because I shouldn't have to be afraid to walk at night. I shouldn't have to cross the street when I see a group of men. I shouldn't have a paranoia of being raped when I take the train.I shouldn't have to dress a certain way to not
I need a different kind of love story...
Okay, so here's the synopsis:
A girl meets a boy
And then questions her self worth
When he looks her up and down
And his eyes pause on her short skirt
I wish my culture would teach men to accept rejection.
To stop showing up drunk to partiesand grabbing the arms of frightened women who are too afraid to say no.
Even when I close my eyes,
I can still see the fists wildly being thrashed at me
Even when I cover my ears,
I can still hear the spits of insults and names being flung at me
Even when I touch my skin
I am many things:
a feminist, an activist, a straight-A student, an aspiring actress, a talented employee.
These are the things that I label as part of me.
It simply doesn’t add up,
The world we live is the one and only Earth
For we shall be side by side
To strive for equality
Nor be look down by gender
"It's only nature," he says,
As he waters the vines
That slowly wrap around you
Blinding, constricting, smothering
Your ripped clothes tangled in the roots.
"Don't question what is natural," he says.
Give me your respect; I am a woman!
Even my shadow is a projection worthy of praise.
I have a story in my heart and you WILL listen.
Gina Napolitano
Cotton
Your crosses are covered in blood.
Not the blood of Christ,
But the blood that oozes from brown skin.
this depicts no race
can you tell my skin color?
my ethnicity?
we are all one as a female population.
the same ovaries.
the same cervix.
the same uterus.
Feminist: a person who believes in the social, political and economic equality of the sexes.
Could it be any more obvious that we still live in a patriarchal world when feminism is a bad word?
When I was 9 years old, I came home from school one day confused by a question a classmate had asked me.
i’m trying to find the balancebetween female anatomy and unbalanced brain chemicalsmales gazes and straight jackets internalized, holding hands, squeezing out my sanityi do not know how to properly
i’m beautifulbecause i demolish my poltergeistswith syllables that pulse under my skin,a crescendo of the ivory keyswhen the tempo is accelerando;because i can and willopen your cranium
Hi!
I’m a fan.
Or should I say,
I am a breathing sex toy,
screaming ATM machine,
teeny-bopper obsessive drama queen?
I am nothing!
What’s funny is talking about celebrity culture—
The voice within me is old.
And I know her now.
I've always known her,
because she is me,
as much as I am her.
I remember,
a time in September,
under a tree
I need feminism because
our oppression isn’t real because at least we can vote
because the wage gap or lack of control over our own goddam bodies cannot be oppression
"Make me a sandwich."
Well, I would rather not.
"Cover up, slut."
Umm... no.
"You throw like a girl."
If you say so.
Ignore them.
Don't retaliate
Feminism is now the apparent “new trend”. Simply because a top-40 song and a famous actress are promoting well needed gender equality, it’s viewed as this new sudden topic.
You say I am attacking all men
But in the same way that you loudly proclaim
not all men
Whenever any injusitice committed against women
resurfaces
Not all men are being attacked
So um I like wrote a poem because like I'm sick of people telling me I need to like talk with confidence.Maybe if you actually paid attention to what I said and stopped degrading women for everything I would have this confidence you speak of.
No shave November?
More like no-shave-ever
My legs are like I like my men -
Super freaking hairy.
Venus does not embrace these thighs,
I often wonder/When soft fingers grace the faucet,/That graces the bucket,/Whose metal contours grace the floor/Who decided/That sore knees,/Coupled with aching arms/Tripled with hunched, apron wrapped back,/Wasn’t enough./Who concluded that/Sweat
If there's a phrase I hate it's the phrase
"You're a girl, you wouldn't understand."
What do you mean I wouldn't understand?
Explain woulda
I shoulda
I’m a filmmaker
My mind is a bullpen seething with mischief.
I know I can adventure into places unknown with my camera.
Which is why
Dear Straight Girls
Stop wearing plaid
Take off that checkered flannel
Aand if I see you with those big “nerd” glasses on your face again I swear I will break them.
I am… The Lady
I am the lady who likes muscle, not malls.
I like the feeling of how the power and strength that surges through my mind and body and soul creates harmony amongst my demons
You always want to talk about who I was
Who I used to be
A little girl with crooked pigtails
(I liked bright pony tail holders)
And a nose buried in books
I am the dragon mother.
My flames are so swift and searing
They turn the glass ceiling to sand.
In a land of coveted sons,
Give me all of the daughters.
I am the dragon mother.
Everbach, Helen
noun
(1999-) US writer, social activist, high school student; full name Helen Martha Everbach
Maybe I’m just cursed to walk down these empty halls,
Get skipped in role call,
Eat lunch alone – In bathroom stalls,
Keep my head down, do my work, don’t draw attention,
When the world comes crashing down
Out comes your knight in shining nightgown
Yet he doesn't know how
To save his own damsel's crown.
The king must declare war
Men young and old must serve
I dream of something that should already be done.
I dream of bonds like the red tent.
Solidarity between womyn.
Because when we were property that our fathers could sell,
And our blood was dirty,
There's a box everyone is given
From the moment somebody's born to the moment he dies
In that box he is commanded to fit in
It's a box with walls made of magazine photos and "self-improvement" guides
I am 4 years old
all pink dress, all blond hair, all blue eyes
when strangers ask my name
i tell them, that i am princess peach
She was quiet.
But she wasn't shy.
She had an attitude of a lioness.
The mindset of Angela Davis.
And a spirit that God would soon bless.
She was gracious on a daily basis.
Mama didn't raise no porcelain doll
No fake eyelashes, no lace
Just a girl who is going to take it all
Mama didn't raise no pageant queen
No southern accent, no big hair
I am an activist
An advocate for those who don't have as good of a life as I do
I acknowledge my privelege
I am white, I am not oppressed
I am a feminist
Intersectionalism is most important
Marxists and State commies working to smash the state,
Do you know what you're fighting for?
Besides the assembling of an equally bleak and evil State, of course?
Shit flingers of Israel and Palestine,
I am a woman
I am joyful
I am optimistic
I am full of opportunities
I am happy
I am a leader
I know what I want
I am not rude
I am not shallow
I am not "an annoying girl"
Women are a lesser cut of meat,
cut and chopped on a slab for a man’s pleasure.
Women are a distraction,
and a skirt above the knee keeps a man from his work.
Women are crazy,
I ache for something more than this.
There is this spark in the pit of coals that smolder underneath my skin,
that scars my flesh from the inside out, that promises
– that swears –
When I was in high school
I was very conscious of the way I smiled
And talked and laughed and sat
And I never knew where to put my hands
As I walked down the hallways
And I was usually looking down
at age 13:
girls were Sluts; Bitches, Whores, or Prudes,
and we thought that the length of jean aeropostle shorts
were fuses that would lead to some dangerous explosion of promiscuity because:
From the outside looking in you may think we are simply wide eyed and ignorant.
Dear little girl,
When I was born
I was born into a world of conditions
And because of tradition, and societal ambition
I grew up within the confines of my sex
I'm seventeen years old.
Sitting in my theology class next to my best friend, the priest at the front of the room announces today we will be talking about the wonders of reproduction
Dear boy with the alluring smile,
Thank you for taking away my trust once again:
Every day I wake up from my bed and the first thing that comes into my head
Is what I am
My thoughts are not limited to my own mind.
They are exponential
exceeding the parameters of a tangent.
But I want them to be organised
which is why I focus on brain management.
My own mind wants to unwind
Mother says,"Put on more clothes.Such dress is not appropriatefor a girl like you."She pauses her cooking andforces onto methe red dress and white wingsthat cover my face,my eyes,
The anxiety crept up on me,
A shadow in the night,
I fled on the midnight train,
My heart,
My soul,
My mind,
Chasing,
Determined not to lose me,
My lungs burned,
My body is not my own.
As my 18th birthday approaches, so does my entry into adulthood
As does my loss of agency.
My value as a person will rest on how sexually appealing I seem
My hard work?
My morals?
I used to be the kind of girl who said
"I'm not like other girls"
Because I read big books
Drank tea
Wore ripped jeans and snarky tshirts.
Turning my nose up at
Short skirts and made-up faces
She who runs.
There are those who run.
The murderers, the politicians, the Omelas.
There are many who run.
The lost, the purpose driven, the gifted.
But.
Working for money is hard and stressful.The toilet brush always drips, mildew grows like weeds.Try as you might your efforts are unsuccessful. The beetles still leak from the cracks, desperate for the crumbs that feed.
How can I focus
How can I think of anything
When all I want to do is think of you
you
you
the feel of you in a t-shirt
pressed against my chest
Holding me close
In a world where people are periodically posting pics and sending selfies to fellow citizens, there is a surprising amount of self hate surrounding the subject.
How dare you ask me who I would be
without all these stereotypes?
Don’t you know that society has already defined me.
Don’t you know that because I am female
my main goal is to be beautiful.
My face with no filter is a face I am proud to post
My freckles and my blush are the things I love the most
Many people say I could use some cover-up
But nothing beats the smile I bring when I want to say wassup
Nightshade waves cascade down
framing porecilin white skin
and red, seductive lips.
Her hips, gentle curves
that have been touched,
carressed.
At first she seems okay.
Misogyny equals atrocity
You belong in a kitchen
Women have hands that are too warm
Equal opportunity?
That's why we have less pay
and those that attempt to cat call me
I am angry. Fuck what you've heard.
I don't get half the recognition I deserve.
There's a blazing fire in my heart.
It's been burning there from the very start.
You confuse my demeanor for weakness
"Feminism" is taking over, and wow, they have a point.
Men can do what women do and women do as men.
But is it really feminism...
When we tell a girl that she ought to wear pants
I am not the first to fight this legacy war,
passed down from my mother.
I have been drafted unwillingly, underage.
My dad’s friends used to tell him, “Oh, Rich, you’ll have
Snap! Snap! Snap! all day long in the girl's bathroom. Lights flashing everywhere, skin showing, lips perched like a betta fish.
I don't appreciate
when you approach me
just to tell me that I'm so blessed
with such a sexy body.
And you have no right
to be offended when
I don't kiss the ground you walk on
I demand change.
In these twisted, damaging days.
Where women are afraid to leave for work
for fear of merciless rape
Where people of color
cannot receive a fair wage
To the girl who stood in front of the bathroom mirror with a phone between your thighs telling your f
Powerful and Strong,
She controlled the room.
She was Queen of her audience,
Sick of division, powered by ambition
Brushed into a corner from their social superstition
What's your favorite color, boy?
White girls are who he enjoys
Therefore I'm not worthy of his attention
As a girl, im supposed to play with barbies, not with hot wheels or a toy truck.
as a girl, im supposed to have dolls, and pick flowers, for "he loves me" luck.
As a chick, im supposed to wear dresses, skirts, and make up too.
I am a world traveler filled with interesting foods,
Amazing memories, fun people, and beautiful pictures,
I love coffee, tequila, and meeting new people,
I am confident, I am smart, I am happy
Be skinny
But not too skinny
No man likes to hold a twig
Have curves
No, not there
Only in the hips
What do you mean you can't control where your body fat goes?
I'm broke.
In all aspects.
Like the faucet in the projects dripping, that's waiting to be fixed, while the landlord's getting his fix. All white. All rock. In veins. In vain.
I am at war.
A constant battle against myself,
against my mind, body and soul.
Longing to find the pieces of me
I once could control.
My mind was once a garden flourishing with depth.
they look at me and all agree
they think im a stuck up white girl
like, "she probably gets all her shit for free"
ive got blonde hair, blue eyes.
and my skintone is real white
I don’t know which of my parents promised you a “polite young lady” for a granddaughter,
but you should probably ask for a refund.
Because I remember, seven years old, Thanksgiving dinner,
People see my gifts and abilities,
And they say,"Consider yourself lucky."
They tell me I'm lucky,
Because I believe in a God that tells me I' free,
I'm born into a family of white priority,
She was fragile,
A subtle kind of beautiful,
yet strong
In mind and opinion.
She was clever,
Quick to respond,
while clouded
With silent doubt.
She was a conformist,
Everyone is unique
Different talents, different abilities, different attributes
No one is the same
Different eyes, different hair, different skin
We all have one thing in common, though
My generation
When no one else sees it, when no one else hears it, when no one feels it; THIS LITTLE BRAIN OF MINE does.
Through thick and thin, thoughts lost, and emotions gone; THIS LITTLE BRAIN OF MINE is there to find them.
A little more left.
Shift the angle, the lighting, the camera lens.
Fix your hair as a strand bends
on
the
Oh! There it is,The blood of my Mothers’SinsBlossoming onMy white sheetsLike a bouquet of English roses.A shame -Laundry day hadBeen yesterday. My thighs have been painted
She woke up like that, she’s flawless
But I woke up disoriented, messy-haired, and a hot mess
I am Seven and I am at theClass lunch table with my crushHe never explained to me what sexWas but he talked about it anAwful lot and before he asked meIf I would have sex with him which I
Please do not use my good looks
As an excuse for your blatant impertinence
Of course I look “pretty damn fine”
But I did not get dressed with you in mind
Your threatening footsteps,
Lingering eyes,
I was a in Cub Scouts before I was in Girl Scouts
My dad was the troop leader
He treated me just like every other boy
We learned about astronomy and constellations
We made paper mache volcanos
People ask me why I don't date in the same way they'd ask a sick man what's wrong with him.
Not Your Conquest
There is no distress
In this damsel
I am not the conquest
In the grand adventure of your story
Wrong were the story's we were told as children
A prince will find you and carry you away
Your chance to shine is soon to come
A prince who has been made, and used
They say she laughs too much
Her red lipstick is smeared and she doesn't play nice
Torments of sneers pass her in school halls
In a miniskirt and tank top
She walks down the street
Head down, earbuds in, music off, cell phone in hand
"Give me a smile sexy"
"Come have dinner with me and I'll help you out of those clothes"
Juniper eyesKalediscopesCold.Bitter.Resting faceSeperated mind from bodyagaintyping rants of equality outcry"Bitch"Like bee-sting.Hurts for a second, Stays throbbing
I am just me. I have nothing to hide behind these two curtains of mine.
My eyes see all these fake people just barely surviving.
I am judged because of my opinions, when in fact they are the truth.
Flawless is waking up at 5:45 in the morning feeling like everything that the world says matters is irrelevant at that moment and I
Our representation of sisterhood is...of a vase
Painted in a mirage of colors
Black, charcoal, honeydew, olive, caramel, egg white
Dipped in centuries of cat-calls & inequality
I walk down halls of familiar faces every day
But are they really so familiar
Or are they like me
Hiding myself from the outer world
Afraid to show people
Show people that I am always unhappy
To Be A Woman In America
means to be scared when you walk down the street
means to have to fight twice as hard to get just as much
means to have to listen to rape jokes and not start an uprising in the middle of class
"She's obviously vapid because
she's going into fashion and likes
makeup!" Is what everyone seems
to think when they meet me.
Hell, I even played a
teacher with this bit.
Yes, I am a girl.
A smile is not an invitation.
A young girl, only eleven years old
Far too young to become a damaged good.
There was no screaming or shouting that day,
They say that girls are made of curves -
that we are smiles
and acceptance,
a circle of understanding arms,
our feminine charms meant to lure you in:
a siren call.
A Women of All Odds
Please pay no attention to the women behind those books
Intelligence is over-rated; twerking is all the new rage
I have two nieces:
Hayden and Anabel,
Ages 3.5 years and 17 months,
Respectively.
As a young woman who grew up in a household of only boys,
Living with them is remarkable.
Mouths I have kisseda thousand timesLetting fanged words slither out"Why is it always about rape with you?"little venomous soundshissing at my heels."It’s not love if you don’t fuck."
I was told I could do anything,
be anything,
and I believed them.
“The sky is the limit,”
they said.
“Shoot for the moon,”
they ordered,
“if you miss, you’ll land
Today I thought
That I might editfy you
On some things that mystify
Even the most loving of people
First of all,
I'm not your little girl
Second of all,
It doesn't matter my height,I have to look up to you.
I was born with no choiceAs a woman.
That automatically makes meSmallerWeakerUnimportantOnly for your entertainment.
“Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.”Because that man is not a man, or a woman,or a figment of your imagination.Just as I am not a man, or a woman,or a figment of my own imagination.
A body in the street
but no one knows how the small child sees
his brother dead facedown
now he will be remembered as a corpse and the child a statue
Is this what we wanted
According to legend, Lilith was Adam’s first wife. She had demanded to be treated as his equal and was not given her request - so she left him. God sent three angels after her to bring her back by force, but she did not go with them.
Is there anything but
The harsh reality of today's world
To look forward to?
Children dream of
The freedom of adulthood
While adults yearn for
The ignorant bliss
Of childhood.
Outside--
the chill of her cold appears like wisps,
deciding to make its home inside my bones.
Every lick of her icy breath is a familiar comfort.
As she settles in,
I need feminism because of men in suits and ties,
pushing blank legislation with slanted lies,
swinging their heavy gavels on my uterine lining,
She was jogging late one evening As every night she did Aware not of the treachery That falling darkness hid
Believe it or not I didn’t wake up thinking of you
I didn’t put on lipstick for you
I didn’t brush my hair for you
I didn’t wear this dress for you
Why do I need feminism?
Because in a world of hate,
I have to love myself
Or no one will
Because I cannot
walk down the street at night
“GO BACK TO THE KITCHEN”
I stand there with my cookies and my signup sheet
Surrounded with signs I spent all night making
‘gender equality matters’
It seems to whimper
You fell in love with a girl whom saw from right and wrong.
Who passed many footsteps in her life,
And knew what was going on.
"Yeah, I was a pretty great ball player."
"Uh-huh."
"Yeah, my parents take me and my friends to Florida every year."
"Awesome."
"Yeah, I've never had to work a day in my life."
"I figured."
When I was little,
I dreamed of monsters coming in the dark to eat me up
The big horrible kind with matted fur and curling horns and scales and really big, sharp teeth.
I am a womanI do not wait for my prince I do not stand behind a manI create my own pathsI walk my own journey
If they say “shh”Don’t speakI SCREAMSo they can hear my story
end of story
you say word but you know not what mean
end of story
those words you say hurt an individual
end of story
you say that so gay never coming to a conclusion that what you is effecting that person
This is it.
This world,
This life,
It’s all we have--
It’s our past,
It's our present,
It's our future, too.
We have everything to lose.
This is why I move.
People say you can’t be a lawyer because you’re a woman
Says who?
The Hobby Lobby
Taking away our good medicine for the obstruction of religious freedom
And people dying of AIDS, they didn’t know
What makes me tick
I haven't hands or a face
like a clock
Just gears in my head
slow and steady
whir and buzz
What labels on those gears, dear
Be cautious, but not quite hesitate.
Mistakes are common because the door of reality can be blinded by dreams.
I am sick
sick of being told I am second rate just because I was not born as a white male
sick of my beauty being defined by how close I look to a blonde blue eyed model
I know
Too many people whose no's were ignored
Too many kids forced to grow up too fast
A girl on the cusp of womanhood
With feminine features and curves
Begins to despise what she's praised for
What makes me tick,itch, scrub, and spit
What makes me tick
An Aunt who cares only of her image but not her happiness
What makes me itch
A husband of a strong provider who turns his back and sleeps with another
A couple of months ago
A man murdered two women.
Murdered two. Injured six others.
But it was okay.
It was 100% justifiable by his
“troubled past.”
There were lights, and music, and drinks,
and people were swaying and laughing.
I'm sure it was late and
the drinks made your insides feel warm and
you did not expect anything more than a party.
I saw this image of this young girl who was laying on the floor,
I had to look closer and I saw she didn't have no clothes on,
I judged at first I can admit,
like what the hell is this?
With every "that's not ladylike" my voice drops a little lower until I become a mosquito tone.
With every "you hit like a girl" my fists collapse at my sides as open palms, begging approval.
You only see them laugh
But in silence they pray,
Please god,
Don't let me be the girl,
That this happens to today,
You'll joke about her pain,
Hashtag Jadapose,
Pretend it's a game,
I will not describe my culture,
With romantic language,
Showcasing the beauty of our brides,
Adorned in striking crimson,
Or the spiritual resting places,
That spread themselves accross the lands,
And I am thinking about how I have to be afraid to be a woman
(when I am as powerful as any man).
Just because I am a woman
does not mean I will not fight.
The inside of my thighs are curved
and speckled with little tiger marks.
They are mountains seen from above,
they are the nature within me.
I am not a toy
At your fucking disposal
You will not decide
How worthy I am today
Or tommorow
Or ever
if only everyone knew
if only everyone had their experiences
if only everyone understood
if only, if only.
Flaming red eyes, torn clothes at the thighs, and cuts and bruises that seemed to multiply, but still their lips whisper in sync
" She lies! She lies! "
But she only tells the truth
She is only but a youth
How do you say freedom in a language you can understand?Freedom from a bondage foreign to my warrior heartWe are a goddess forged by hips that would break you
Every Friday and Saturday
You go and drink
You go and dance
You go and loose your mind
Being far from home
Far from rules
Far from reality
Far from truth
Listen,
I tell the tale
Of my pain
Of their pain
Do you hear them?
The collective despair
Shared by every woman who is forced
To witness their culture stripped
Only to be sold
Just a girl.
Raised in a patriarchal family.
But what is family?
Abused at the age of 11, by family, stripped of my innocence.
Perhaps it belongs to an animal
Who squeals for mercy
But instead is stunned and skinned
But no, it couldn’t be them
Because there’s no blood once it’s been rinsed away
Or maybe it’s the young women
Perhaps it belongs to an animal
Who squeals for mercy
But instead is stunned and skinned
But no, it couldn’t be them
Because there’s no blood once it’s been rinsed away
Or maybe it’s the young women
Hispanic women always say I should learn how to cook,
because men like that. Not just Hispanic men,
but all men.
Big men with swollen arms and clouded heads that
like to take it slow.
No, stop, I can’t.
These words spew from my mouth like the hot lava that you left under my skin. When you held me down and poured it in.
Flesh held tight in your grip, gagging on the flame, hot to the touch
She feels them staring at her.
The energy it gives off
Makes her want to jump out of her skin.
My teeth bloody themselves
Air punching my lungs like Venus, when Helen dared defy her
Adolescence plays go fish with identity, it’s not a card
Anymore, but it shuffled me topside bottom
I didn’t recall inviting him to put his arm around me
Much less for him to slide his hands along my thighs
station his palms over my hips
tease my chin and my neck with the tips of his fingers and lips
We're expected to not go out alone at night,
to close our legs,
be feminine,
submissive,
Magnificence was not something I questioned as I child
Certain People deserved to be heard
“Boys will be boys”, they say
As if somehow their biological makeup is an excuse that allows them to comment on my cosmetic kind
As if what hangs between their legs allows them to get in between mine
I can do a push-up.Not the modified, girl kind;The "boy" ones, with my feet and all.But this is not a poem about me.
When I was younger, my mother’s name for me was Doll.
Her hair was golden thread, her eyes were glass.
She would dress me and undress me, and hold my pink hands and sing,
“How perfect you are,
A bone shivering day in February,
I stay at a friend's house with a few of my friends.
My friend's parents happen to have a friend over.
He's nice enough, and he drinks for hours on end.
Oh, you hate men? Why would you be a feminist? All guys aren't like that..That's so unfair.
For centuries
The world lived under the assumption that nobody was perfect.
There were pretty people
There were gorgeous people
And even some beautifuls in there too
She takes flight.
All the light in those babydoll eyes.
Broken.
Soars away from these hardships.
Tender hands burned.
In this seemingly painless discuise.
Don't leave me in the darkness.
I can't look him in the eye,
because I'm ashamed of the ones before him.
Were there ones before me?
Of course,
But that is of little importance.
I can't feel worthy,
when my number means so much.
Do you know what your child is saying?
Sticks and stones may break my bones
Well they don’t tell you words are rocks
They don’t tell you threats aren’t empty
They feel full, strong, triumphant
I need feminism, because I can't leave my legs unshaven without being told it's wrong.
I need feminism, because if a man shaves his legs he's told he's "feminine", "girly", and "gay"
As each girl takes her first inhalation,
She becomes a host to the cycle of corruption.
And it starts as society's thoughts creep into her ears,
Naivety is expressed in many minds
About many matters where ignorance is but a synonym,
Yet let those words scathe their ears and retorts
Will soon follow. "Not all men-!" Yes all men because,
As my Brother wash the dishes
i wonder if my mother should be sleeping.
My Father told me to cut the grass.
i never seen me cut it before.
My Friend Tony said that he does not believe in my family.
Sometimes words fall from my mouth like a waterfall into river, rippling from letters into waves of sentences forming long lines of poetry that carry through banks and across deltas, a never ending string of love letters that will someday reach y
Rap is My Boyfriend
I’ve gotten into a relationship with the wrong type of guy
Because when I was dating R&B or pop, my self-esteem was so high
R&B’s words were so soft and sentimental
Sally Susan Smith learned a new word today
Puberty
She sprouts long legs
And starts shaping into curves
That slope like desert dunes in summer
Sand grains slip, glisten, and shake
The color pink is a presuppositionthat was forced upon usfrom birth.We were not given a choice.
You say I'm not skilled enough, clever enough, qualified enough
You say I can't be as smart, as strong, as independent as the guy sitting next to me
What gives you the right
To try and claim my body
My body is my own
It’s not here for you to
Press and knead
Jab and paw at
Claw and sink
Your fingers into
You know what makes me tick?
Rape culture in society.
Women (and men) are forced to live in anxiety
and it makes me sick.
I hate living in a world
where the first question
Why is it called Feminist
when it is in favor of both genders?
it should be called
humanist
or equalist.
Are there male feminist?
Would they be called Manimist?
MY NAME IS LJ
I’m at the grocery store.
I’m out to lunch.
I’m at the gym.
I’m at work.
I’m at a bar.
By myself.
With my four-year-old cousin.
With my friends.
I doubt it’s ever crossed your mind that I am not putting on a mask in the morning, but I am not hiding behind my mascara tube.
I am putting on my armor.
Feminine is not soft.
Bruno Mars lied to you girl.
He said that you are beautiful just the way you are, but you aren’t.
My friend,
you are beautiful just the way you are supposed to be!
Not plastic:
covered in powder,
I’m a firm believer in a shatterable glass ceiling.
And before you ask
No.
I haven’t shattered it yet.
In fact I haven’t even seen it yet.
Haven’t come close to its heights
girl, if you are to be a woman hereyour hair must not be cut above your earsyou smile and laugh and never shed a tearthat's just the way it is for women here
Eyes searching hungrily
Viewed as meat and an object
Who am I to object?
Who am I to say no?
I have no say in what is 'right' for me to do
I must know my place
I hear that men are better
At putting bread on the table and
Making dough.
But I always thought women
Belonged in the kitchen,
So when it comes to baking bread
Just listen
And listen to me good.
Hang on to every word I’m about to say.
Because I really mean it.
Don’t take it as a joke
But really understand what I feel.
It's not a debate
Why keep asking questions is search of anwsers that will only hurt?
It's just really frustrating:how it only takes one person to ruina safe space; feeling obligatedto play into the "nice guy's" hands; how you
She was supposed to be a boy.
Over there, she might not have lived to see another day.
Here, she was loved.
I am loved. I can follow my dreams.
But they called me bossy.
Loud.
Pushy.
The school dress code states:
Girls may not wear shirts without sleeves
Girls may not wear shorts that do not extend past fingertip length
Girls may not have shirts that dip down the width of her hand from her neck
I am a woman
I have long hair, I have a high voice, long lashes and lips of cherry
I have curves, I have breasts and a butt
And I love my body and I am proud
You tell me,
And you tell her too.
I bet you say that to everyone.
You don’t know her
But she still hears you.
I hear her crying.
You exist everywhere,
All this violence,
has its range,
that's one thing
that I would change.
A bad night between couples,
two many drinks,
makes them rethinks
their own happy nuptuals.
A woman who is merely beautiful is boring
A woman who is beautiful, intelligent, courageous and powerful
is more along my cup of tea.
I am excited whenever I see her.
I am influenced with her every speech.
she wanted to look sexy,so she put on a cherry red mini skirt,with flesh-colored pantyhose,a black halter top with tiny sparkles on it.the shoes she chose were ruby and high-heeled.
You ask what I want in this world?
More than anything else?
Well it is what most women would want also,
I want there to be a higher likelihood that we die of disease than by the hands of a man,
I’m a mouse
Always have been
It doesn’t take much for me to hide in my little home
Where I am safe from the daggering eyes
Or judgmental looks of others
But sometimes I get fed up
If I could change anything I think it would be my eyes,
I don’t like how dark they are, I want them as blue as the sky.
Or maybe I would change my thighs,
They rub together and jiggle when I jive.
I heard a story one day,
to my surprise I had nothing to say,
It was something about this girls name,
The sound? The origin? It soon all became a game ,
Stupid girl
She was called
You think you can contribute?
You’re so tiny in this world
You may as well be mute
You’ll never get a word in
The Big Men are talking
I would change
If I could change
women’s volleyball shorts.
their function is fine,
They fit the way they were designed to
I am able to dive,
hit
pass
and spike
in them.
I hope one day I’ll breathe in sweet relief
Because we women, after fighting tooth
And nail for equal rights, have won the war.
We women stand with men, no longer small,
No longer quiet. Strong with voices loud,
Let's take a look
Look up
Up away from that iridescent screen
Let the grey surroundings turn green like the trees
And yellow daffodils
Pink pansies
The blue ocean
Can you see it?
At the lake, she stood,
Staring into the deeps.
At the fish, at the frogs,
At her rippling reflection.
"Why?" she whispered.
"Why is the world so blind?"
She heard footsteps.
When I was five years old,I heard that boys stood when they peed.Angry and jealous,I dragged my princess panties down to my ankles,Held my skirt above my belly button,
It’s not working
And not much has changed
So it’s time for blunt action
To take place.
I should not worry
Walking home at night.
Teach your sons no means no
They smile and waveI walk by and shy.They all look pretty,I feel ugly.They smile and laugh,i try to tag along too.I will try my best to smileand laugh
I'd make sure I had been heard.
I'd spit those words out so fast.
That they would have to stop and listen to me.
Because words are heard better.
When they aren't stumbling over each other.
The difference is a letter
Or a chromosome, really
It’s a variable, it’s chance
By biology, a 50/50 split
XX = XY
It’s not biology
It’s society
I am a female; I am told I am lesser
When we change the world,
we will twirl.
When we change the world,
bombs will stop being hurled.
I stand behind a glass case.I am an object to behold.For my submissive nature and gentler tones.
I tend to children, I tend to the injured.I remain hidden behind a man.For my lesser gender, and simple mind.
I would make everyone see that
We're all human.
We're all the same.
Sharing the same planet and co-existing in beautiful diversity
And these things you call
"race"
"sexuality"
"gender"
If I could change one thing
It would be so that the world could stop hating.
It would be so that the color of my skin,
The religion that I practice,
The people whom I choose to love,
My English homework asks me to name things
that are considered taboo in society.
You know what people don't like to talk about?
Sexual assault, the fact that there is no gender binary,
When will I be able to wear shorts to school
Without being harassed, touched, and stared at?
When will I be able to walk at night
Across the street, across town
Without being scared of every shadow?
When a man gives his opinion, he’s a man
When a woman givers her opinion, she’s a bitch.
It’s hard out here for a bitch
In a place where for every man’s dollar women make 78 cents
Everyone complains about societal views
And the way women in magazines are never more than a size two
But if you think about it
Why don't magazines advertise strength or wit
Or how to tell a man "no"
They were used to me being girly
Fat.
Insecure.
Sensitive.
I dreamed to be a thin designer that put others under the control
of my charms
of my domesticity
A cook, a designer, a wife.
if the boy you love consistently asks for sex but refuses to treat you like the goddess you are, leave him
I would like to change the world
the notion just seems grand;
Some people say, "But you're a girl!"
like that should mean I can't.
Should parts of your anatomy
affect your skill at all?
it is saying somethingwhen i feel worthlesssimply becausei have never beenkissed and havenever been adoredby a boy because thatis all I was made forright?
If everyone read National Geographic
There would not be as many things to report about
in National Geographic
If young girls were surrounded by images of beauty and strength
What if.
What if I'm not just the tight kink of a curl.
What if I'm not just soft brown blends that make the hue of my skin.
I look into your face as I describe
The project I put hours into
I paint a picture for you
Of the reaction from my classmates
When I pointed out that there are examples
In our own culture
To boys:
We know we are beautiful
There is no need to yell it at us
Your “compliments” on the street do not flatter us.
“What are you doing later baby?”
Nothing with you, that’s for sure.
Sweet angels we are, and sweet angels we'll stay
For it was nurture, not nature, that made us this way.
Perfect curls and silent glossed lips,
A pretty face and smiles to kiss.
Dear Adam,
Do you remember the garden?
Does the wind take you there still?
In waves and hurricanes of memory and emotion, does that land there return?
In the middle of the market
The bones lined up in rows
They used to be so pretty
Where did the beauty go?
Come here lovely darling
Be a part of the lovely show
I saw a commercial the other day
but I don't know what it was selling
A woman wearing nothing slid
down
the
hood
of a
car
In my house, a woman actually has a voice.
We have a goddamned choice, and we even have poise.
Not one man present to cause any noise.
No testosterone, no sign of any boys.
I am a woman.
Catcalls are not a compliment.
Not in a world that blames vulnerability instead of those who take advantage of it.
I am intelligent.
But it doesn’t matter because my body is worth more than my mind
Equality.
Equality is a word that is used too freely.
We are all supposedly equal.
But this is not true.
So I am done.
Done with the rules made by
White old men who earn more
I am woman.
Once I was gatherer, harvester, carrier, birther.
Once I was producer, property, livestock.
Once I was empty and blank.
Once I was space.
I am woman.
From day one I have had society's fist pound into my gut like a hammer.
At an elementary age I am told to wear dresses, play with dolls, and act like the little princess I am.
I cannot bear the History
The Submission, The Imprisonment
Intelligence wasted behind the fearful pomp
Confined in lowly places that don't suit us
Women, much stronger than believed
He knocks me onto the floor
Tear drops and lightning break out
I cry out and run to the door
He kicks me and with a shout
The trees he slit each bedtime are my limbs. Breathing branches laid to rest.
Spread as a tumor, Man forces lactating yield, across this wielding breast.
I am a woman.
That means, I can do whatever I please with my body.
Decorate it.
Show off as much skin as I want.
Do whomever I please.
I weep for every woman that is beaten for not having dinner ready for her husband when he comes home.
I weep for every girl that is sold into sex trade,
Forced to give their bodies away.
I’m running,
I’m running fast away from him.
He’s getting closer,
He’s getting closer to me again.
There’s blood on my leg,
It leaks from my open flesh.
we need feminism, because "men are apparently from mars and women are from Venus"
We call it feminism because of gender roles.
Women are considered to be delicate flowers
Men are warriors
The Household should not have a head
after all I am not only an arm
I am an intellectual human being
that's what all my influences say
My parents say I'm just a girl
my brain is not yet done cooking
A laugh
A scoff
"She's such a slut"
That girl right there
With the low-cut shirt, high heels, short skirt.
You don't know her,
You don't know her life,
But that doesn't matter.
I am not here to take notes for you,
I will not sit in the back seat,
I will not grow my hair to wash your feet,
I don't care much for your religion,
I don't care much for your knights,
What I do care for,
I divide from my roots with the pierce of a razor.
Cleaving a meat fringe, wings endless, pine needles rolling off bark skin, detaches my figure from nature.
I am a real piece of work
And that much about me will never change
I’ll change the world with words
The same way you changed me
You made me a worrier
Excuse me
I am in this world deformed,Rendered useless by some,But unbeknownst to them, There's a world that will accept me.It comes through the TV screen,in the form of kingdoms, mazes, and caverns.I can take to the skies, swing a sword at those who questi
Oh. Thick girls?
They are better than Big girls.
Big girls are like big.
Thick Girls are just better
Said everyone.
Big girl
Big girl
No loves you they said, lose weight they tell me
Shit I Can't Say To My Teacher really should be Shit I'm Not Supposed To Say To My Teacher
There's an everlasting system of authority that makes it impossible for me to ask questions
Brainwash the children of the nation
with songs by Drake
omg becky look at her butt
you only live once
dripping with misogyny
stupid sayings
strangle our minds into believing
As a DRC Woman, I believe a woman's mark on the world should not be shallow.
As an African American, I want race to be something celebrated and not discriminated against.
Racism
Sexism
Heterosexism
Classism
Humans
Oppression
Privilege
Advantage
Suppression
Humans
White
Heterosexual
Male
Perfect
Feminazi
I hate that word! Don't you dare put me down.
I want my rights! I want recognition! Don't make me look a clown.
I'm not a nazi. I am a woman; a feminist at that
Don’t look at me like you expect something great.
I’m tired of being called perfect.
I’m tired of pretending your right.
I am not perfect.
And don’t you dare tell me otherwise,
Because I despise
This breathing box, this imprisoning womb,
Is my vision’s tomb.
Birthing lineal contours, knives that cut ingenuity,
Patriarchal forms, notions, popular standards strangle voice within a vast continuity.
We see one another everyday, and your talk is so condescending.
Maybe it's because I don't have that look
The look of your kind
I get it. It's "God's Will"
We don't see eye to eye because of our polar views
I send my prayers to Jerusalemto hide in cracked walls and under flagstonesalongside supplications for healing and kindness. ∞I plaster my poems on the walls of cities
I am Female.
I am Girl.
I am Woman.
I am large hips,
I am tiny waist,
I am large chest,
I am stereotype.
I am pretty face,
makeup,
lipstick,
I am beauty.
i hear you call the word in the halland my head jerks up only to seea friend hugged you from the back in the hall.you cry wolf and iwas devoured by canine mandibles.
You are not a shark:a woman does not attract you likeblood in water.You do not exist to fill the roleof predator.Your kind, if so suitable to law make, legislate, mandate,
Are you a man?
No one cares. You are just a man.
Are you joining the military?
No one cares. You are just a man.
Are you depressed?
No one cares. You are just a man.
Were you laid off?
Under my bedI layAfraidBecause tonight is just one of those nightsMama works late
I can hear you stumbleYour scent getting closerYou mumbleI should call mamaBut I'm just not suppose to
i was told as a little girl
to stay quiet
when i really meant stop.
boys only tug on girls’ hair
when they really mean she’s pretty.
i was told as a little girl
to never scream at the shadows.
In 2013people are still slavesslaves to the patriarchy
black boys getting friskedinnocentjust on the streetand they call it"pre-emptive"
Ms. Rose I see those clown insects have you down and in doubt, just know it has to rain before the sun comes out.Ms. Rose you’re losing your powerful color…you were sprouted in a poor garden, but you don’t have to believe those other flowers.Ms.
She snaps the heels off her stilettosThat never gave her enough stature.To cease treading lightly alongside theHenry Tudors and Pablo PicassosDue to two X's that cannot be overlooked
Encircled by a group of guyfriends
gathered like scholars circles back in medival times,
news about a girl comes up.
Instantly, it comes down to the unconscious question:
"Is she pretty?"
Dreaming is what got me here.
I used to dream that all the power would be in my hands,
but here I am pressed against the ceiling
this cement ceiling.
You fed me words
that made me hunger,
Dear Son,
Recognize your power, strength, and courage.
You have the drive and the power to achieve great things.
And then there is power ascribed to you.
When I was younger, my favorite poet was Sylvia Plath.
I liked her because I related when she wrote about the weight
of all the lives she wasn't living and her life under the fig tree.
How is it that you can stand there and be okay
with all the wrongs being done to your fellow human?
How is it that you can stand there and tell me
that you are superior just because you are a man?
Shame that I must have
Because it is my own fault
For dressing like that
(a haiku about rape culture and the shame a woman feels after being raped)
The Mirror
Shoots it's rainbow daggers throughout the hall.
It is three in the afternoon
And I am faced
With the mirror.
It blocks the path. Knowing
Taunting with my own face
I want to be a cactus.
I want to be rough around
the edges;
To form an armour around
my skin.
To be free from what
Most think that beauty is.
I want to be a cactus.
We are but black and white
The letters that we write.
The colors leeching from our pens
destroy worlds and breathe sins.
Creep into her mind and look at the world through her glass eyeCreating her own pathCautiously not stepping on the flowersShe spoke with her mouth but it was Styrene's tongueWhen she used her words as the daggers
I am a someone and not a something.
I am derived from irreplaceable queens.
I hear the war cries in my heart ring
and when I bust through walls I hear them joyfully sing.
Your vibe I feel inside deep through my eyes, suprise, I rise, the soul flies like a magic carpet ride, all
the lies dies, as a woman like you becomes wise. For you special, beautiful like a rose petal, tender to
I had zits.
I have zits.
We all do, it just comes with being a teenager. And just like zits, that awful “I’m not beautiful” feeling also comes with being a teenager.
We want to change the world.
We sang it together in crowded basements.
Declared it so loudly that the world may be forced to hear us.
But they didn't.
1964. Kitty Genovese. 28.Raped and killed while her neighbors did nothing.Her blood left a scuffing.2009. Jane Doe. 15.Raped by ten guys at a homecoming dance while several class mates laughed and joked.
Turtles from Madagascar
Marmosets from South America
A Noah’s ark of endangered species
Sinking under the weight of the elephants.
Captured from traffiikers
Seized from smugglers
At the start, I felt them place the chains upon me.
Decisions, ideas, thoughts they decided for me,
Pushed so hard I believed they were my own,
Yet they were so different from the writing on my heart.
We are half of our planet's population.
With a world wide desicion, we could stop new human creation.
We are your mothers, daughters, wives and sisters.
Her voice becomes unclear.
Are these expressions of pleasure
Or pain? She winces and looks for something to hold on to,
Something to brace the defilement between her thighs,
The gaping wet wound,
For a woman
Each strand of hair
Holds its own weight
The longer the strand,
The more power the hand
So one day, I cut my pony tail
And when the pile on the floor grew,
We..all...die.
The goal is not to live forever, it's to create something that will..
So ima create somethin that makes the time stand still..
See ima make that kid on the block turn around
Let's be honest
Truthfully, who are we?
How can we keep stepping?
Stepping towards our future one head at a time
What is the meaning of life?
A meaning that could be meaningful or less
I think of a day when women had no rights
And of places where this still somehow occurs.
Not too long ago, women had no say at all.
And women fought, and fight.
Women are amazing.
Today I take a stand, I take an oath I make a promise, to be the best woman that I can, dignified, untainted, and honest, I will be what God defines me as, instead of a product of my past, so I hold fast to what God says about me, forgetting what
I could blend in.
In the background.
Up against the wall
Slip myself in between the paper and the plaster
Beside the tile lining the bottom of the wall next to the cabinet
And smile.
This is a body.
This is a human body.
This was not sculpted,
and shaved
and shamed
in a fashion
magazine.
Yes, he lost the election
But the scary part
is
apparently 47 percent
of my fellow Hoosiers
think it's cool to say
God wanted you raped
and vote for him anyway,
which makes me think
It started long ago in the Garden of Eden
Some say it was paradise, I only recall a mirage.
It seems impossible but I know I’ve seen His majesty shining golden.
I remember He formed me from another’s appendage
Woman reigns
on her throne. She decides your fate
with the third knuckle of her right index finger.
You kneel before her as she uncrosses her thighs
to stand.
Delilah, with
your head in her lap
You'll always be second best
You'll always be just a pretty face
You'll always be someone to be seen, not heard
They tell me what I am, they say who I should be
"Women shouldn't think, that's not what they're for."
how dare boys tell my gender that sexism doesn't exist
they say it so flippantly
but they don't know
how could they know?
The patriarchy
Self-congratulatory
of its own bias.
The working women
Polishing her glass ceiling
weeps for potential.
The conservatives
attack her choice as murder
But her life counts too.
She was afraid
Of words they said and thoughts they would have
She felt unsafe
For their actions often go excused
In a world where victims take the blame
Hope
A simple word with more meaning behind it than you think
You ask me what my hope is
And there are many ways I could answer
I hope that one day this country will accept all people
Black, white,
I speak Pythagorean,
Platonic, stars, and shapes,
imparting my knowledge to others.
They love it, and tell me
that I am Minerva, incarnate
highest, uppermost, supreme.
I have a gender. I was born a woman therefore I have fear.
I have fear. I am taught at a young age to fear the monsters that come out at night.
Girls in lace dresses
you are precious objects.
Your blossom bursts open to soak up the sun.
You are gazed upon as your fruit hangs heavy.
You are ripe for the picking
turned into a commodity.
And suddenly it hits me like a punch in the gut
that I can BE all these beautiful things I read:
I can cut off my hair and wear fishnet stockings
and clomp around in big black boots and I
You are loved.
Forget what mama said
when she was angry
because you didn’t agree.
Turn away from that
boyfriend you had,
the one who broke
your heart and promised
I am a woman,
So I must be perfect.
I am a woman,
So I can't be too fat or too thin.
Too ambitious or too meek.
Too smart or too stupid.
Too sexy or too prudish.
He didn't even know me.
he passed me by like a river's torrent
smoothly, he grumbled, "Nice shirt FAG!"
if a boy calls you weak
remind him that you are strong enough to
hide his corpse in the woods
Guns don’t kill people
People kill people
People with guns kill people
People for fun kill people
People with psychotic dispositions kill people
People with the wrong mental composition kill people
He called her his whore,
his slut,
his own bitch to ride on,
like dogs.Prized only darkness,
like lights.
Abandoned in public,
like free-speech.
She wasn’t free,
she wasn’t light,
when I was in high school learning to take the tenets
of journalism like the sacraments of Christ
we learned a wealth of rules;
some matter more than others
but
I must have missed the day
Speaking, Acting, Learning,
On misogyny and bigotry,
Stepping up and sharing stories,
Personal experiences and opinions,
Everyone is not equal,
We're still in a place of hate.
"Freedom for women!" they shout
These feminists few
But how can they not see that she's a feminist, too?
So many spaces are unsafe
black children are shot
little girls are raped
young women are beaten
Inside it controls.
Inside rage.
Inside pain.
Inside bursts of tears.
Silence.
It hides in the chaos-filled voices that live in life.
See the girl who sits and cries.
She needs protection.
She is just weaker.
This is a man’s world.
His ego is the leader.
He believes he’s in charge.
Speaking of his tyrant wisdom,
He gives orders at large.
how odd, to be a woman and a girl
to wear the dresses but concern about cleavage
more than meets the eye: because.
and so we waddle for the men –
twisting straps, my petticoat drawbridge
It was for our freedom that she fought
Our suffrage, rights, autonomy
Until her expression was brutally shot
With the bullet of misogyny.
This was not the end, she refused to eat
I will not.
No more yes dears, no more
"Of course honey"s,
No more martinis and foot massages.
Boss me around all day,
But don't you think I should have my say?
So what if you are male and I am not?
We also have minds, thoughts, and dreams we have sought.
I am disgusted by the way you degrade me
I want a boyfriend
but I also want feminism
Does that make me so awful?
Does it make me any less of the woman that I am?
Does it make me wrong?
No.
Growing up i figured out that F that labels me is not an F for failure,
such a minority in society but im growing up to be a voice in a million.
I declare women leaders of this world.
you’re getting married saturday.
you’re marrying the man you deemed better
than my father, the man you figured was
more suitable for you than
three children, a loving husband,
a house with large windows
I thought women had
silver dollar nipples
not ones that look like
balls of scrunched up
panty-hose.
Look, boy, I'm talking to you:
You who love the curve of my hip like a child
You who find solace when I'm meek-mannered and mild
You who find sweetness in my summer fleetness
