I AM WOMAN/SOMEHOW I'VE SURVIVED // R M

in ,

Listen.
I am woman.
Painted lips and painted eyes,
underneath my black Abaya
is where I hide my fists.

Listen.
I am woman.
Words loll around my skull and tongue,
breath somehow enters, leaves my lungs -
a galaxy of bruises on my wrists.

Listen.
I am woman.
But when hair grows where the hair grows,
when I’m more hot blood and less red rose,
don’t chide me for my human-ness
and ask me why I’m pissed.
I am woman. 
I resist.