Who Owns Our Bodies?

Because when I think of me
And that perfect beach body
I’m not thinking of myself
I’m thinking of a celebrity

Because when I buy make-up
The receipt tells me everything
But my name
And then I’m to blame
When I start looking the same
As every other face on the street

Because every time I shave my legs
I’m taking my stance against nature
And I’m holding that razor
Like a cross around my neck
Even though I know
It will crucify me

Because when I walk down the high street
In a pair of shoes
Designed to make me taller
Not so I can get better sight of the views
But to ‘extenuate’ my figure
For the benefit of my gentleman caller

Because I see little girls
Being told that pink is what they should wear
And that’s the epitome of womanhood laid bare;
We are just a colour, a body of pink flesh
Laid bare with no hair except what’s on our heads’

Because it takes two people
To create life
And yet all the responsibility
Is mine from the moment I sigh
With the pain of not knowing why
I’ll be punished no matter what I choose
Have an abortion – congratulations you lose
Oh but you’re a single mother
You’re the bane of society
You’re the reason why we’re in these blues

Because when I say no
What I really mean is
“Go ahead and do it anyway”
It doesn’t matter, what’s mine is yours
I mean, what’s the point in autonomy
When my body is no longer me
But something that society
Can spit on and then make love to

Because too often I have watched a room full of men
Discussing the problem of sin
When women become everything
But pretty and thin
And what it says on the tin


Because I am a woman
And I have bought into all the
Values I have been told to
Despite knowing I shouldn’t
And waiting to fold
Back into a compact case
You can carry around
At your own personal taste

The Apple of Your Eye

I remember that day
The way old friends
Remember together
The laughs they have shared

The laughter now pittering
Into a dull, lifeless thud
That echoes the sound
Of my voice

Hoarse and distorted
Because my lungs fail
To release the stale air
They have been holding captive
All this time

That day the sun
Breathed little whispers
Upon your naked face
And kissed each freckle with warmth

I remember how hot it was
In contrast to your icy stare
The one where I reflected
Inside the hollow shells
Beneath your brow
        
And I saw that
The apple of your eye
Had rotted to its core