Hear my voice will you?
Chained to work on constant surveillance
You insist on colouring my dreams
Tagging me to persevere to be a super woman
Seeking perfection in size and demeanor.
You would drape that tag for yourself
As figments of fiction
Boundaries are nonetheless the same
Yet the wires are wound differently
For me and for you
Hear my voice will you?
Without banishing my thoughts as frail
Without cambering my thoughts as fear
I have no qualms in contentment
Perspiring to unify my roles in me
Winning and losing
So do you, having a responsibility
I know and agree
Will you?
Blessed are my hormones to be such
To harness, carry, nurture life
In me, with you
Steering the boat together
I owe to you as much as you to me
Independently interdependent
For life to be born
Endowed with the best of me and you
Yet, I remain the one alone
To be tossed and toyed with.
Hear my voice will you?
Without trampling my feelings
Without branding me as weak and meek
Hear my voice will you?
If I talk about you and me
Not as Adam and Eve
The scale is tilted in your favour
Ironical! Even in the name
Hear my voice will you?
To have me, see me
Evenly equal in name and spirit, as you.
Gender inequality has stayed with us from the time life was conceptualized. In some pockets it has turned a dark shade of domestic violence, assault on women, child abuse. I have written earlier on these in different tones. It assumes a different proportion each time I think of it, perhaps, the effect of mothering a three year old girl. Thank you Victoria for making me voice...again...
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The men hear your voices
ReplyDeletethey hear it loud and clear
filling their room
but do they ever
listen
A lot of good thoughts here... but to me it's not about hearing it's about listening (and I'm not good at it)
Appreciate your views Bjorn. But i wonder how many of it is heard, listening is a far cry and the ones serious and sensitive to this need not listen to understand and be, one hearing is enough. Glad to have you here around!
DeleteThough in today's society we all say that men and women are equal.but still the situation is far from this reality,
ReplyDeletereally nice rhtyhm in this....and i can def hear your hear come through...its horrible how we treat some...and how women have been and are treated by many...def the hearing of the voice...and as bjorn said, listening...acknowledging...we still have a ways to go...
ReplyDeleteIt definitely is so important to have one's voice heard. In your poetry, for sure, your voice is loud and clear and beautiful!
ReplyDeleteThat's a good point about the names of Adam and Eve. I would never think of that! :) But this piece does make a good case to plea to be received as an equal, completely. There's listening and there's listening without already judging or preconception of how to take the message because of gender or whatever.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed this.
A lot of wisdom here, a great capture.
ReplyDeletelisten to each other without branding us as...whatever we tend to brand the other....i think yes, we need to learn to listen and do away with measuring with two different measures
ReplyDeleteA very powerful message ... a strong piece !!!
ReplyDeleteSo much strength in this one. The way you used the 2nd person in the refrain-like stanzas was really effective.
ReplyDeleteStrong refrain makes its message clearly felt here.
ReplyDeleteA strong voice that asks to be heard being more emphatic with repetition. Great piece!
ReplyDeleteA voice that is still not being heard in so many parts of the world.
ReplyDeleteI, too, found the repetition very effective, and I love the two opening lines. Strong, coherent voice in the poem.
Say it, Sister! You speak for all of us women who have known the frustration of merely wanting to be heard and treated as human beings, not objects.
ReplyDelete"Tagging me to persevere to be a super woman
ReplyDeleteSeeking perfection in size and demeanor.
"You would drape that tag for yourself
As figments of fiction"
This part especially intrigued me as another abuse of feminism is harrasssing them to live up to the equality goal with one voice while holding them down with the other--a patronizing that smothers.
How we see and tag each other has so much to do with what voices we can hear. Glorious poem, exposing subtleties of the struggle.
Akila, I share your journey. The circumcision of young girls, girls being sold into the sex trade and raped as young as three...
ReplyDeleteWe are so fortunate to be in a position of loving mothers. To be able to have and keep our babies is something we take for granted in the States; I would suppose it's a matter of social status, same as my country, whether or not that happens.
I am a "proto-feminist" (I was aware of the struggle before the 70s movement, through my mother), and I do agree that there are feminists who belittle mothers who stay at home. I disagree with them openly, reminding ALL that it's a choice - I wish I had been able to be at home for Riley after school, but I had no choice but to work.
Names and blaming... the sacred game of "you're the problem, not I." Let's stop that game in its ugly tracks with poems like these. Brava, Akila! Amy
Yet the wires are wound differently
ReplyDeleteFor me and for you
And so will always be...
I like "ironical"... and I hear ya!
ReplyDeleteBoundaries are nonetheless the same
ReplyDeleteYet the wires are wound differently
For me and for you
It is most unfortunate that realities of life are bound such. One party may be calling the shots. It's a challenge to remedy and retain good relationships between 2 parties.Nicely Akila!
Hank
Let's scream this loud and clear ~ I am all for respect of women and children and it is disgusting to read stories of men preying on children ~
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your words ~
Very meaningful poem
ReplyDelete'Blessed are my hormones to be such
To harness, carry, nurture life' these are some unique lines I found in your poem.
Raising voice is first step towards action!