#feminist poems

[bluetalepost]

i would never be a therapist because that's who i've been all my life. i wonder if i would ever let myself be a mother.

[aphrodites-serenade]

Think of me, a woman

My parents may have left their parents, siblings, and friends behind,

But they can not leave their old ways of thinking behind.

–

No matter what I accomplish,

My goals are scrutinized to the point that I don't bring them up anymore.

My existence is degraded and reduced because of the simple fact that I am a woman.

–

People with no knowledge of me think I should retire from my aspirations.

They'll list an "appropriate" title for me: Mother, maid, wife,

And demand me to be happy with only that.

–

Oh mother, you know I'm too boisterous to stay at home.

I am too disinterested in men to ever serve a “husband.”

And having children terrifies me to my core.

–

Regardless of where I end up,

I ask that when you visualize my future,

you look at me first.

Don't think of a man.

[glittergracie]

within you

Let me swim in your honey brown eyes

That watch me in carefully placed yearning glances,

That glimmer with iridescence in the spring light.

Let me hold your smooth warm hand

That tip-taps along the aged wood of this bench,

That seems to glow as you pluck a wildflower.

Let me touch your sun-kissed cheek

That you turn to me in nervousness,

That seems to hold your secrets.

Let me kiss your rose pink lips

That I know are warm despite the brisk air,

That call out to me through our silence.

Let me comb my fingers through the chocolate waves of your hair

That sparkles in the warmth of the sun,

That splays across the width of your shoulders in invitation.

[meanwhilepoetry]

Sing O goddess, of Hera's rage, how they vilified her for it, even if she was a woman betrayed. Sing O goddess, of Helen's desire, how everyone forgot she was the daughter of the most powerful God and that was what made the whole world burn. Sing O goddess, of Hestia's fires, how she left the cruelty of Olympus for a peaceful life - how she gave Prometheus the idea to steal the sacred flames for the mortal world. Sing O goddess, but not of Odysseus or Menelaus, Achilles or Agamemnon. Sing instead of women full of fire. Sing us the torch song which brings wildfire when Goddesses like you are ignored.

Nikita Gill, Great Goddesses 2

[thediaryofarevolutionist]

- Simone de Beauvoir „the second sex“

She is literally describing me

[1500swhore]

”A woman’s first blood doesn’t come from between her legs, but from biting her tongue.”

-Meggie Royer

[thegentleintellectual]

“It calms me to think of blue as the color of death. I have long imagined death’s approach as the swell of a wave—a towering wall of blue. ”

Excerpt From: Nelson, Maggie. “Bluets.”

[susansontag]

I adore this essay about emily dickinson and her place in feminist history by gerda lerner... you can tell emily is so important to her. from the creation of feminist consciousness.

[adeadgirlspoetry]

[bluetalepost]

there is shooting on the tv. and the heroine comes in, guns blazing, sexy and witty with all the right answers i wish i had or and the david attenborough type walks me through it so i learn something about american history british history, sudanese, thai, australian, mexican, yemeni, nigerian, peruvian, guyanese, haitian, turkmen, irish, palestinian, take your pick, any of them work or and when the names of the dead scroll i know every single one is younger than me or and i see in the background a neighborhood i used to drive through when i still lived in my hometown or and a reporter says the emts got shot at, i wonder if i knew any of them ems is a tight-knit community or and i don't get the appeal of these violent video games, i just remember all the articles i've read about how constant exposure to violent media puts children at risk for normalizing or gd forbid, engaging in violence themselves or and the police saved the day, actors are much more competent and movies are much more generous or i could shut the damn screen off. nobody is shooting at me here i'm going to make myself some tea

[aphrodites-serenade]

Bystander

Last year, there was a senior who caught my eye

A tall girl with bleached ends and painted dark lips

Thin brows but thick eyeliner

An expression that teased hundreds of secrets

Talked about wanting nails but always chewed on the ones she had

Laughed a lot with the girl seated next to her and rarely smiled at anyone else

I never knew more than her name and the face of her boyfriend

I wondered why out of the many boys, she'd chose one who looks like any other plain boy

A boy with no real power but lets you know that if he did, you'd never see the light of day again

A boy that cares nothing for the feeling of a girl, only what he can take from her

A boy whose first reflex when he gets you away from your friends is to slap you

I sat in my parents' car, watching and asking myself over and over again

Why, beautiful girl, did you choose him?

Even I know I wouldn't deserve you

But did you not think you could do better?

Were you taught to be quiet, too?

I should've asked at some point

After graduation, I never saw her again

But in my mind, she's walking in a field of flowers,

She's smiling and laughing with that friend who, like me, always watched from the sidelines…

[glittergracie]

fantasy

I dream of swimming through your golden honey eyes;

Parting the water with my hands as I dive in,

Feeling sticky stardust within my fingers.

Wriggling my toes in the tall warm grass,

Watching the fireflies dance at dusk.

Here is where you’re most beautiful,

This fantasy world only found within your mind.

[kyeomunism]

obsessed with paris paloma's entire discography, but one that stood out to me was "last woman on earth" from the cacophony album.

I've heard so many takes on the 'man or bear' discourse, and this piece of art is my favorite response. it speaks of a woman whose dying wish is to finally be respected.

I've heard of so many cases where men have violated even the deceased. this song feels like an outcry from the daughters of those victims.

she says she'd rather be with the bears, be burned, or be scattered in the oceans—anything rather than be buried in a grave where men can still find her. she'll get tattoos so her body will be considered 'ruined,' because only then will they leave her alone.

she says if you love her, wait for her body to turn blue and decay, so she'll finally be undesirable again. so that even in death, her body is still hers.

this is rage. this is girlhood. give my girl paris paloma the audience she deserves.

[laddersofsweetmisery]

by nikki howard, @laddersofsweetmisery

A free write. Thinking of turning it into the introduction of a larger project I'm working on for my mfa??? idk.

[opheliasnotdead]

God made me a woman

because he knew

I’d be a violent

Man.

You turn your cheek to me,

expectant of your daughter’s understanding kiss

even as I clench my shaking fist.

You,

who raised me

in soothing bible’s cradle,

Who held me

in paper hands

Heavy

with history’s guilty ink,

Who taught me words

and thought

and love,

Who oversaw the baby-gated safety

of my first stumbling steps,

Have thrown me now

with nothing but a ballot

Headfirst

into this strange danger.

There is a wolf,

drooling for the give of my flesh,

furry hind quarters firmly seated

in the highest Office,

Perfectly situated

to oversee my death.

God made me a woman

because he knew

I’d be a vengeful

Man.

You

beg peace,

for the sake of the turkey

petition for the space to agree

to disagree

Even as my thin slip of safety

is stripped from me.

Predictable violence

Settles

as familiar as a softly gifted shawl

around my shoulders,

and I watch your tongue split,

coated in the secondhand vitriol

of spiteful speaking talking heads.

I’m beginning to believe

God made me a woman

because he knew

I’d be a better

Man.

[ventsesh24]

Welcome back to….

Meaningful Reads Monday

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This Week’s Selected Books Explore the Following Themes:

✶ Resilience & Resistance

✶ Identity & Perception

✶ Social & Political Change

✶ Historical Insight

✶ The Power of the Indomitable Human Spirit

Quote of the Week: “The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any” — Alice Walker

Song of the Week:

Book Recommendations: