every woman
By: Plod - Poetry Life Or Death
Tags: Resistance, World War II, Heroes, Feminism

by

brian knippers

This poem is dedicated to Lindsay. For all the love you’ve shown me through my incarceration.

every woman

should have

an opportunity

to save a life

or bring life

into this world

she should

live freely

love…

freely

be abundant

or just be

herself

every woman

whoever

she is

wherever

she lives

whatever

she chooses

it’s her choice

whether

she’s the most

vigorous

aggressive

take-charge

athletic

intelligent

charismatic

beautiful

gallant

heroic

woman

or

maybe

she’s just

an average sort

maybe

she loves

to play the violin

maybe

she’s autistic

and lives with her parents

maybe

she’s a business owner

or she’s instrumental

in the operation

of a business

maybe she’s a doctor

a lawyer

a veterinarian

or a dentist

maybe

she gave up

the idea of

having a large family

to pursue her career

maybe

she’ll be

the first

woman

to become

president

of the U.S.

every woman

runs through

a foot of mud

in a long distance

cross country

endurance race

thighs burning

sweat stinging her eyes

she loves it

laughing through

pain

or

she might be

scared

to step over

a large puddle

god forbid

she ruin

her new

italian leather

pumps

every woman

could be scared

to carry her grocery bags

through a dark

parking garage

every woman

may fear

opening

a heavily taped

package

for fear of

ruining a

manicure

every woman

may also

enjoy

taking her

.45 magnum

to the firing range

after work

picturing her

ex and his

20 year girlfriend

as targets

and squeezing off

a few rounds

boom!

boom!

boom!

with a

crooked smile

on her face

every woman

built a deck

on her house

today

after watching a

do it yourself

(DIY)

youtube video

on how to

and she

started

cutting lumber

and banging nails

voilà, a la deck!

every woman

may cry

or

scream

or

act hysterical

during the worst

of times

every woman

calmly accepts

bad news

without breaking stride

holding her grief

inside

every woman

who’s not

scared

to die

who doesn’t

fear

death

who doesn’t

cower

in dark

corners

when a bell

tolls

who stands

proud

in the face

of anger

who smiles

when being

yelled at

who always

has

a witty

comeback

on the tip

of her

smiling

tongue

every woman

she’s

tall

short

has big feet

she’s

fat

skinny

hates her hair

she’s

thick

emaciated

and her nose is wrong

she’s

happy

sad

and nonplussed

she’s trustworthy

loyal

and

it’s a dream

of hers

to find love

every woman

on certain days

is sentimental

mourning the loss

of someone

she loved

every woman

still believes

that every woman

is courageously

daring

given an

appropriate

set of

circumstances

she’d

jump into

action

heroically

every woman

helps an

elderly

man

across the

street

every woman

wipes

spittle

from her

lover’s mouth

when he’s

paralyzed

in the

hospital

every woman’s

differences

make

every woman

perfect

in her own

way

we hate

what others

tell us

to hate

about ourselves

it’s societies

strategy of

manipulation

by furthering

expectations

and excoriating

imperfection

every woman

knows

the expectation

of perfection

her own ideal

that she’s pictured

in her mind

since she was

a little

girl

she

knows this

far better

than she

wants to

but who

pointed out

those imperfections?

a magazine

an actor

her mother

a friend

a TV commercial

why

did you believe

their lies?

they want to

sell you

a better version

of you

what are we

afraid of?

it’s those who

point out

imperfections

who are

imperfect

themselves

their own

insecurity

leads you

to find fault

in others

delaying

the inevitable

examination

of one’s

self-worth

who wants

to be

a clone?

unnoticeable

in a picture

of other clones

so don’t

suppress

your

untold abilities

be true

to your

own

self

and help

them

deal

with the

stars upon

thars

every woman

in WWII

women

risked their lives

as spies

to save

our world

from tyranny

many died

inglorious deaths

yet

there’s

no movie

about woman

titled

inglorious

bitches

although time

and time

again

woman proved

to be

“the better man”

perfect spies

why would

a little

frail

delicate woman

be better

equipped

at spying

than her

strong

robust

handsome

male counterpart

one word…

mansplaining

those

hopped up

German

super troopers

viewed

all woman

as subservient

administrative assistants

objects of

sexual desire

they viewed

woman

as

less-than

couldn’t wait

to explain

beefed up

powerful

manly ideas

about war

conflict

fighting

a good fight

strategy

to those

lovely

debutantes

innocent

and

smiling

they patiently

listened

while secretly

documenting

every word

she

even had

a photographic

memory

she would

encrypt a message

passing the information

along the wire

report the most

critical intel

to the war department

just ask

julia childs

how she tore down

an enemy

siege line

in the morning

and baked a

bunt cake

in the

afternoon

saving

countless lives

while feeding

a few good

woman

not every woman

asks why and why

does every woman

have to wait

until 2019

70 years later

to receive

appropriate recognition

for their achievements

in the war of all wars

against tyranny

after all…

churchill received credit

but his wife

not so much

female spies

received virtually none

and

every woman

deserved credit

for their heroic efforts

not every woman

performed their

duties

quietly

behind the

scenes

cloaked in

anonymity

behind

an

invisible universe

unheralded

for generations

not every woman

did this

without

chest thumping

and men

who want to pat

the pretty little girl

on the bum

tell her to

go and

put on something

pretty

because

big earl’s

who’s not really

big

at all

is taking

out the wife

for a night

on the town

not every woman

tells her

husband

what she’s

done

and

her husband

yawns

pauses over

his plate of

roasted meat

and says

that’s nice dear

that’s real nice

you

and those

other women

did

a little something

for the cause

that’s

real nice

dear

not every woman

laughs

knowing

he doesn’t

understand

she speaks

three languages

saved an

untold number

of lives

understands things

he just

doesn’t get

nor did

many men

of that

generation

in their thoughts

only men

with rifles

storming beaches

were really

“in the war”

and they were

god bless

their sacrifice

but not

little girls

collecting

intelligence

that’s only

a support

mechanism

not every woman

could undergo

days of

torture

before being

murdered

once caught

she was

held captive

when they

hurt her

through the pain

she endured

and said nothing

knowing

other woman

would be hurt

should she

crack

then hand over

confidential information

not every

woman

could do that

not every woman

kept their

heads up

pride in cheque

did their job

with the

dignity

of their

station

not every woman

asked why?

then said

why

and why

are men so afraid

of women

even

a woman

receiving her

just due?

does

being

a man

become

less valuable

somehow

do men

become

subservient

partners

perhaps

homemakers

is it okay

for a man

to raise the kids

while his wife

flies off

to fight

a war

every woman

has a dream

that

someday

antiquated notions

of sexism

will disappear

masses

of every women

continue to find

their voices

screaming

no

no

no again

it’s not

okay

what you’re doing’s

wrong

what you’ve done

is worse

look at me

dammit!

look at me

don’t look at me

look

inside me

look through

my eyes

see what

I see

feel what

I feel

hear what

I hear

see me

here us

fear me

love us

most importantly

allow me to become

every woman

we’re supposed be

it’s important

respect us

respect me

revere me

allow me

to love you

this

all of this

is overdue

equality

is overdue

that’s all

every woman

wants

that’s all

every woman

needs

that’s what

every woman

deserves

just

that

every woman