Written

Since I was little, they Told me.
They wrote out the ways I would
Live this life.
I am Woman! Breeding and
Breathing, and Bleeding
Are my soul-chores.
They wrote it out. Many times.
My skin Scratched Parchment
Holding the tears from so many
Blunt nibbed pens
Ever writing, and writing and
Writing.
Never asking. No thought
To the improbable fact
That my Parchment would
Never hold their words together.
No worry that I would never
Do. Just Do. Exactly as they
Have written, told, screamed,
Scolded.

Reviews

[Zoe Jay]

This is really good. It's rough and acerbic, making use of hard sounds and broken rhythm to give the poem mood and rawness. It's quite stark.
The opening six lines are absolutely excellent. "Breeding and Breathing, and Bleeding are my soul-chores" is a great line, it's concise and a really good introduction to the ideas raised in the poem. This can be read on several different levels. It is, of course, a commentary on gender roles, but I think it can also be read as an indictment of traditional education, and it also has religious overtones. The poem has an accusatory tone, but the energy is not given a particular focus, so the reader has a tendency to read the poem according to their own experiences and resentments. The parchment is a clever metaphor for the human mind.... blank at first, ready to be filled with whatever scrawlings may be written there, but once written, they cannot be undone... and when the parchment is full, something has to give. The emptiness of words without thought. Very insightful and well written poem.

[Lola Nation]

great release of frustration and challenge of the "told to do" society ...

[Karina Longo]

Your writing style reminds me pretty much of Emily Dickinson's. The ending is brutal, full of impact - I really like it.

[Forest Green]

Words piecing a ladder together that leads...where...to expressions of life, in life, turmoil that finds reassurance in words once again.
Well done...

[....]

My skin Scratched Parchment
Holding the tears from so many
Blunt nibbed pens

these lines are wonderful, i like this feel like a vent!

[George Love]

Good work, almost a rant, almost a protest, almost a tribute, but what it is completely is a good work with meanings that can be drawn by the reader and interpretted in a few directions