Like Mary Quant
sister had the look –
groomed in etiquette,
poise and fine dining
while my boyish antics
merited mixology prep
one destined for the catwalk
the other a life of servitude
She was swank,
I was bistro.
(Image from personal collection)
Long since
dawn’s early
observation,
have witnessed
patriarchy’s
inequalities
first hand
second hand
lack a solution,
short of vengeance –
perpetrate rather
than end the cycle
of crime –
no place
to call home.
(Image from personal collection.)
Connections, like bridges,
run between us –
no matter how subtle –
nations and individuals,
there is no divide…
Imagine if we acted
in this knowledge –
mindful and kind –
not so subtle the outcome,
I should think.
(For Ragtag Community’s daily prompt: subtle. Image from personal collection.)
Divergent perspectives
reveal solemn truths
pieced together
snapshots
examine disconnect
individualism
promotes autonomy
only when in balance
with community.
(For Reena’s Exploration Challenge which features an interesting video: Â click here)
Men prefer a reserved lady,
Mother was quick to admonish,
ashamed of my hot temper,
the tear in mud-soaked stockings
the call that came from the boy’s mother.
But I was born with a fervid passion,
a sense of justice igniting a fire within –
Women need to stand up,
I lectured her, to declare our rights –
a concept that fell on closed ears.
She’d continue to take father’s abuse,
apologize for under-salted broth,
or too thick gravy, for lingering
too long in conversation at the market,
or letting us kids dare to raise our voices.
And I’d continue to clock any boy
who dared to say that girls can’t….
Neither of us able to reverse
the inequity we suffered.
(For Ragtag Community’s challenge: fervid; and Fandango’s, reverse.) Image from personal collection.
Public displays seldom tell-all,
Vanity figures performance called for –
a ruse to make the hordes pander.
Clearly fault lies with us, audience
fuelling rhetoric, lapping up the hate.
Give politicians their due, they deliver
souped-up enemies to satisfy our tastes.
(For Reena’s Exploration challenge, where the prompt is the line: Public figures make us hate their enemies.)
Image from personal collection.
On Patriarchal watch
the feminine is on trial –
crimes noted, abetted,
intervention and consequence
murdered –
suspects ride a pendulum
where witnesses are criminal
and the vulnerable run
no peace to be had
while justice sleeps.
Confronted with the confines
of your hate-centered speech,
I choke on disbelief,
mind sputters, stalls,
conversation moves on
and all I can manage
is an impotent withdrawal.
(Submitted for Ragtag Community’s prompt: sputter, and Fandango’s: manage. Â Inspired by the hate rhetoric passed about on social media, often initiated by those I otherwise respect. How do you respond?)
I was your pink girl universe,
but you, Two Spirit,
asked me to look up,
full faith, feel sky lift
your language world big,
I, little and like morning, gentle,
always open –
one sister soul
making life a play.
(Friday is magnetic poetry. Â Play online. Â Image from personal collection – available on Society6 – KnutsonKreations.)
Analysis freezes heart,
I leap with reservations,
engage in familiar pacts,
motivations logical,
observe patriarchal parlay –
seduced by original sin –
settle into compromise.
One Woman's Quest 