Anne Leigh Parrish

originally published in Feminine Collective

 

The rib never fit

And the apple had worms

Fig leaves are for fools shaming the

Triangle of life

 

Caves sheltered as long as you brought

Down your share, felled by points you

Chiseled by the hour, in between

Sewing skins and putting the baby

To your breast—

Migrations, snow, death

Seeds sown, crops harvested

 

You:

Learn to read, get the vote, work on the floor

With a glass ceiling

Are told you are unreliable, emotional, a false accuser

When your boss grabs your ass

 

You:

Want to go on the pill, and your doctor

Looks at your ringless left hand, then says no—

 

You:

Get an abortion to free yourself of a burden you

Cannot carry, given you by a man who

Lied, stole, cheated

 

You:

Live in a country where the ruling party

Wants to own your womb

It’s their right, they say, because

They know so much better than

 

You:

 

Will never:

Go back

Accept cruelty as fate

Apologize for the drive of your sex

Close your eyes

To their blindness