Matrons of the Ward
       

A widow is sentenced up to fifteen years
after the departure of her beloved
to sleep with his clothes: the happier
the marriage, the more complete
her rehabilitation. Our institutions
aim to protect the public after all.
Iron Lady is a film about rust.
And the one on disarmament is Annie Get Your Gun.
The moon never asked for Clair de Lune.
The moon was well, famous before.
A woman must share her story as if every man
has lived it in the great, grand history of the world.
If only she could tell it in a way that those who heard it
would literally explode—or spark just a bit,
then leap overboard. Unremarkable still that a woman
has never been known for sawing a man in two. Or for freeing
herself from a straightjacket while chained to the floor of the ocean.

Tweet
Copyright © 2020 Cindy King All rights reserved
from Sou'wester
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission