Poetry

Woman, what are you worth?

By David Kapp

What are you worth,unemployed woman
in the townships?
in the kitchen?
in the office?
in the bedroom?



Are you worth less, in pink,
than the boys, in blue?
Are you worth more or less than your
blue-eyed and blonde compatriots,
worth less or more than your straight-haired and sharp-nosed counterparts?
(and what about your model-shaped colleagues?)



What are you worth,
sex worker in the streets?
sex worker in the kitchen?
sex worker in the office?
sex worker in the bedroom?



Are you worth more thana priest or politician in a 4X4?
a TV presenter?
a glossy magazine editor?
the machinist in the factory?


What are you worth,
unemployed woman?

Woman, what is your value,
to yourself?
your community?
to society?



Woman, how many special days
do you need?
A Mother’s Day?
A National Women’s Day?
An International Women’s Day?



16 days of activism?
How many more days do we need,
Women, Men and Children?



______________________________________________



How Many Women

How many women, like us
Girls forever, like you
sit up in the night
feel the weight of darkness
like the pressure of him
always crushing us
gripping my breath
stealing your life
How many women like us
feel the sickness
when he comes too close
the clenching, empty nausea
if I hear his breath
if you fall under the grinding memory
him, he, his, every man
an unwitting predator
How many women like us
Girls forever, like you
Await attack like nervous deer
forced to graze among smiling wolves

~Anonymous Submission