Who-man

Woman.

Why do you

Feed your heart

Words that have not

Been ironed?

Why do you stain your

Soul with crease?

Why do you not

Tremble under

The weight of the divinity

You carry on your cheekbones?

 

 

How dare you?.

 

 

Woman.

Why do your hips sway

Like they are prayers

Stuck in Adam's apples?,

Unsure of the beauty

That runs through

Them in quick

Bursts of morning?.

 

Woman.

Why do you wear

Your crown on your ankles

Like it is a song for the dust

Your foot collects?.

 

 

Woman.

Have you not

Found that your

Skin is a bowel movement

Of places and times.

Of smiling little girls

And smiling little boys?.

Of dark mahogany

And men

Who refused to

Be quiet?.

 

 

Woman.

Why do you

Stand like a city

That has fallen?,

Why do you tuck

Your dreams in the

Lines of his corrupted

Fingers?.

 

 

Woman.

Why does your

Voice break

In defilement?,

Do you not

Know that your

Throat is

A gallery

Of the priestesses

Whose words

Bellowed like mountains,

And cradled victory in

The small of their backs?.

 

Woman.

Why do you

Immerse your

Hands in the balladry

Of vapid cackles.

Like it is the song

Your tongue was

Rolled to sing?.

 

 

Woman.

Why do you

Sit like

Food that is too salty?,

Like you do not know

That the World is your own?.

 

 

Woman.

Why do your

Eyes roam

Unattended,

Like you do

Not hold empires in

The crook of your neck?,

And answers to wars

In the drum of your

Ears?.

 

 

How dare you?.

 

 

Woman.

Why do

You hand parts

Of your self out

Like a charity

For dead men?.

 

 

Woman.

What happened

To the scent of pride,

To the army of your fist?.

 

 

What happened to your face?.

 

 

Woman.

Where is your former glory?.

Where are those arms that raised

Civilizations out of the earth

Like poetry and gave them breath?.

 

 

Woman.

Do you not know that the World

Waits like the Sun waits for the Earth?.

Circling the fracture of your frame

Again and again.

Like a bird of fire?.

 

 

Woman.

Do you not know

That your chest

Is a vessel for

All the love

Stars cannot give?,

For all the dreams

They cannot carry?.

 

Woman.

Do you not know

That you are a thousand

Freedoms just

Waiting to be reborn?.

 

 

Woman.

Do you not know

That your hair

Is the whisper

Sailors wait for

As their lungs

Claim the smell of salt?.

 

 

Woman.

Do you not know

That centuries

Still walk the nook

Of your ear lobes

And roll down your shoulder

Like sweat?,

Do you not know

That History calls your name

Like a sister?.

 

 

How dare you forget?.

 

 

Woman.

Do you not know

That you are able

To lift you,

Like the parables

Old men say when

The sky has turned ash?.

When the red of the Earth

Assured them that

Their daughters would

Hold Strength and sit

Next to Honour,

That they would

Embrace the taste of their names

Like the moon holds silver.

That they would say each syllable

Like it was a language that lived in their mouths,

That they would not give their

Names to tongues that were

Not able to lift them.

That they would

Walk remembering that they are women.

 

 

 

Women.  

Reviews

[Priscilla Sayers]

I am honored to be a woman as you declare for one to embrace her strength, to look within an treasure herself as you see her. Women... Many self sacrificing, insecurities rising above the strength that lies deep, hidden. A woman has the fire the breeds passion, the abilities to not only create life but to nurture and understand it. How dare we, woman deny our worth! You are so knowledgeable, your wisdom spreading the passion that lies in a man beyond his own years, inspiring the revolution of women to merely value that they are, WOMEN!
I adore you my friend! I love this piece with all my heart and the message that inspires many.
XX

[Joshua Lean]

thank you.Your words mean a lot.I'm honored.

[Priscilla Sayers]

:)

[.]

~ my girl-woman heart wants to thank you infinitely for this post... i cannot begin to tell you how much your words are echoing deep within... i dunno if i'll accomplish anything significant in life but i know that i'll always remember your words and they'll help me triumph over adversity and pain... this piece is an epic... an ode that elevates the meaning of an ode... you're an incredibly gifted poet and an incredibly gifted human being... it's a privilege to read your words...

[Joshua Lean]

thank you.I appreciate you.

[.]

:)

[Trigorin]

Rather long, but I think you've put a great deal of effort and emotion into this piece and it conveys that very well. You use some great imagery here and you've told the story quite well. Well done.