In some Secret part of Her #FreeVerse #gender

In some Secret part of Her

I felt a pang of loneliness when
I watched the lives of others
I could not place the appalling self-consciousness
I felt, surely horrible and common?

The inner words we dare to utter at ourselves
Cramped in the dark for so long
God, but if life is loneliness
Then every act is one of saving ourselves

We get married for companionship
And have children to grow old together
We volunteer our time to help society
Yet does the neurotic element

Ever truly wane, wanting mutually exclusive things
And not having them, we make do
For the rest of our days, this
Is the great compromise, feeling misunderstood

We learn to not take anything for granted
As if the present is our forever
And forever is always shifting, flowing, melting
And as a woman, we are required to serve

While men can escape social roles by rebellion
Or male privilege, or utter irresponsibility
As women we were required to give life
Until we forget who we were without them.

To Be a Woman

What’s it like to be a woman?
To know the joys of Motherhood
To serve as if it was your duty
A man, a family, a community

Not getting paid for it
What’s it like to feel a woman?
To feel a vacancy between the legs
Under the skirt, a summer breeze

And eyes on me, like the feast of gulls?
What’s it like to be a woman?
To have closer social bonds
To never truly be alone, how

Does that feel? To have protective
Fathers, and possessive boyfriends?
What’s it like to be a woman?
I will never know, to feel the dresses

Caress you, as you blithely change
From mauve, to peach, to blue.
How does it feel to have skin
Like olive oil, and wear perfume

What’s it like to seduce a man
With just a pouty look, what’s it like
To have to earn your place twice
As hard, in the boardroom?

What’s it like to be a woman?
To be stoned to death for being human.