Poem by Shukri Baker
Original post can be found at Notes From Shukri.
Tribute to oppressed women of the world
My leonine face is the morning sun. Not afraid of dark. I am woman.
Still obsessing about me? I don’t romance creatures of incoherence, Tyrants of all types.
I am woman.
I witness against your sacred right to rule over
my mind, my body, my triumph, my
motherland. You can’t cast me in your
image, erase my voice, grasp my genesis.
You can’t escape my gravity, my force.
I revolt. I retort. I resist. I protest
I am woman.
Lop my pens. Lock my books. Slave me.
Put me in cuffs. Hang me from my hair.
Let my lips and blood kiss. Promise you’d love
every curve I keep_ make me hate, buke, weep.
Rip me into a thousand deaths. Drill your
bullet right into my naked neck.
Feast your eyes on my mother’s tears. Let
my father’s heart drop inside my grave.
I promise I don’t repose in death. I promise I rise… and you parish. I am why life exists.
I am woman.
Shukri 10-04-22
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