I want to pour healing balm into
All the wounds of women
That are worn bravely on cheeks
It hurts to see those smiles
So firmly set
As if to say yes
I'm always fine
The least likely to die at least
Notice all the little details
Silently picked and sifted through
Hidden beneath my dress
Sheaths of heavy drape
And the starvation of that nerve
Just to keep rolling
And jangling nerves
So I bare my teeth at you
Other fragile foes and bones
I could have melted into
But you keep going and going
Til there is nowhere to run to
I joined you there mother
In that dark place
Looking up to the light
Pushing people up
Expecting them to look back
and come back for me
Always looking behind
To that underworld
We will win the accolades
And have ballads sung about us
We will sing them too
Drink deeply and drown in them
That will be our call
The stars that shone bright
The flowers on the wall
Moulding into domestic
Setting
Old dusty confirmation gowns
Buried in frowns
At the breakfast table
She’ll wait there by the door
Running for buzzers and alarms
That she can’t hear
She’ll go heroically
Out in her dressing gown
To challenge the intruders
No one else can see
Cover up! They say
'Que labios labiales'
This is not just
A tale of angry women
It’s that excavation
For deep heart sadness
That no one could admit
Though i’ve been born with it
I see generations of us
So warm so present
When male figures
Are so fleeting
So easy to disappear
And we are there
Looking at each other
Knowing each other
Challenging each other
From the gut
To the souls of our feet
We scrutinise kindness
We tenderly and wildly
Clean and thump away
At the mud
Starting anew
Nurturing gruffly
Loving roughly
With a handful of biscuits
A spoonful of tea
Laced in taut acidity
It is always kept there
In the cupboard
Little trinkets in boxes
Lost vainly sought between
Flurries to move towards
Holding up upholding
Tumbling walls of
Generations
Calmly sat beside the
settee.