Burdened by gravid belly
Or babe or child,
Through history we were controlled and bullied
Possessed against our will
Beaten and punished
Burned at the stake,
Shut up in madhouses
Married without consent
Forbidden to own property or inherit
Have custody or guardianship of our children
Our brains declared too small
To manage our own money.
Yet a woman designed the first card computer,
And Nathaniel Green's widow was already using
The first rough version of the cotton gin;
Harriet Tubman led through deadly darkness
Aspasia wrote Pericles;' speeches;
Hepatia taught in Alexandria
Till torn limb from limb,
Boaddicca led the Britons' doomed uprising,
Zenobia and Cleopatra held to the last
Elizabeth, not crested but cloven,
Outmaneuvered everyone.
The children hang on the fence, shouting
Mama, it's Susan B.! And Stanton hurries,
Baby on her shoulder, pen in hand.
What do women want? Freud wonders
I only ask, said Angelina Grimke
For my brother to take his foot off my neck
So I can stand upright.
Look, look, Abigail
We have fomented a rebellion.
(c)Bea DuRette 2010
No comments:
Post a Comment