Roe vs Wade Series | Poetry | Amy Garner

 

Searching the Womb by Inder Salim

What Faith in Mankind?

 

I peer into our past and see our demons’ gleeful grins, snapping the chains that drive our future forward.

Don’t like that you can’t own her when your loins go all aquiver?

Cover her.

Anonymize her.

In the streets of her own village.

No woman was ever safe.

Don’t like that your wife won’t share her wealth?

Insane asylum.

Lobotomize her.

In a five-star luxury hotel room.

No woman was ever safe.

Don’t like how your boss spoke to you today, made you feel small?

Scapegoat.

Savage her.

In her own home, in her own bed.

No woman was ever safe.

Want to be wealthy without all the work, and need fresh labor?

Rape her.

Impregnate her.

In the rude hut feigning shelter.

No woman was ever safe.

Don’t like that she owned land and was a respected healer?

Accuse her.

Hang her.

Confiscate her lands and goods.

No woman was ever safe.

Don’t like her choosing her own lover with her own heart, mind and body?

Hide her.

Drown her.

Never let her see the light of day.

No woman was ever safe.

Wanted the dowry but not the marriage with which it came?

Burn her.

Eliminate her.

Hide the money and slither away with a sleazy smile.

No woman was ever safe.

Feeling low, unappreciated, with a need for power to make yourself feel on top?

Attack her.

Force her.

Feel no shame, merely gloat with your atta-boys.

No woman was ever safe.

You want someone to be beneath you, less than you, worthy of your sentence and your spittle?

Outlaw her.

Imprison her.

Make her body your property.

No woman was ever safe.

The enlightenment is over, and the chink of women’s chains is only one of many links being forged.