Wednesday, May 10, 2023

Odd the Sea

where boats manned by men sink

every single one, as if the Phoenicians

never existed, as if Polynesians

never set sail, as if Lord Nelson

drowned in his bath, unremarked


whereas women sail unmolested

pacific, they have no words for war —

shield, siege, castle, moat — they abide

peacefully in thatched cottages

feed on plants, worship no gods


children are amply praised & men exist

tho hobbled at birth & castrated after one

instance of sexual congress — they make

decent pack animals, & like the women

dream & sing & dance & make art


no one remembers how women

learned to minimize men, one suspects

a pre-historic testosterone-amped surge

nipped in the bud by womenfolk

once a year they don scare-masks


they run, shout, rattle gourds

beat on drums, oh, & how they laugh


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