WOMAN
by Cheryl L. Daytec
In fairy tales, they stole your strength
Made you
A wispy figure
Whose salvation is
In the kiss of a prince
In Holy Books you have been
Targeted for stoning, for burning`
A prostitute
A widow purged of essence
A rambling witch
A wife defiled
An unwed mother
An uncircumcised virgin
You have been dragged through
The corridors of sorrow
A grieving mother
A hurting wife
An ignored daughter
You have been built
To a prototype
Scared of your power:
A mind shorn of will of its own
A head for nodding
To your father and husband
Eyes for weeping
A tongue for talking balderdash
And singing men’s accolades
Arms for holding infants
And drying laundry
Legs for moving around the kitchen,
Or for toddling behind patriarchy
Come. Sprint to higher ground
From the depths of submission
Jump off the pages of fairy tales
Bolt the pigeonhole’s door
Be as a butterfly emerging
From the cocoon
Soaring to heights
Seeking its metamorphosis
Awing the world
For there are struggles
To lose without your strength
There are problems
Unsolved without your wisdom
History is a narrative of lies
Without your story
For truth cannot be half of itself
