by Rasma Haidri
U.S. first lady Michelle Obama and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry hosted the International Women of Courage awards ceremony at the State Department March 8, 2013 in Washington, DC. In celebration of the 102nd International Women’s Day, the State Department honored nine women from around the world with the International Women of Courage Award, including the 23-year-old Indian woman known only as “Nirbhaya,” who died from injuries she received after being gang raped by six men last December in Delhi.
India is a woman
with bangles of gold, yellow silk
draped over a bronze arm
fingers elegant and long
at the end of a hand
lying in the dust, chopped
so the bangles fell off, one by one
like bloodstained fetters.
India is a woman
with slender long limbs
sheathed in folds of softest cotton
that lift and stretch and bend
as she steps into a rickshaw
where two men already seated
smile and wag their heads
and make room for her
between them.
India is a woman
partitioned by a retreating army
into East and West, Us and Them
split along the red rape line
where her blood, like a river,
would have carried sons into the world
and daughters.
India is a woman
who trusts the strength of men
put in position to protect her
but again and again she is flung
like pieces of meat between them
her golden brown body devoured, ripped
by their white gnashing teeth, smiling
like jackals.
Rasma Haidri is an American poet of South Asian descent living on the arctic seacoast of Norway. Besides previous publication in New Verse News, her poems have appeared in journals and anthologies in the US, UK, Hong Kong, Canada and India.
Tampilkan postingan dengan label International Women's Day. Tampilkan semua postingan
Tampilkan postingan dengan label International Women's Day. Tampilkan semua postingan
Sabtu, 09 Maret 2013
Jumat, 08 Maret 2013
HOW TO WRITE ABOUT A WOMAN WHO JUMPED OFF A CLIFF
by Luisa Villani
poem pulled from Los Angeles local news, March 10, 2010
A live interview has a witness saw her “dangling”
from a tree outstretched from the sheer cliff-face
before she lost her grip. Did she "jump”
or just merely "slide?" The different news outlets
can't seem to agree on this point (her predicament),
nor on whether she was attacked by a rapist,
a would-be rapist, or an attacker.
What is for sure: she was on top of the cliff
and something happened, and when the paramedics
got to her, she was at the bottom of the cliff,
and the person who was with her at the top of the cliff,
or who confronted her at the top of the cliff,
or whom she encountered at the cliff top,
got away with her wedding band and her SUV (or her car).
How do you write about the woman, the cliff,
the other, the ocean, the sky's nothing embrace,
the woman above, the woman below?
How do you get it right? Is there a "right"
when faced with loss, a right way to pick
between two losses, pick which one is greater,
which one is lesser, which one you'd rather lose?
If NPR says she "slid" and CBS says she "jumped"
who picked the right verb? Sure, you can bicker
about the geography of Point Dume, its rocky face,
its sandy top, and you can guess the extent of her struggle,
the intent of his actions, but let's get one thing straight.
There was a "him," and there was a "her," and in the long
history of him and her, how many times has SHE
actually had a choice? And how many times has that choice
been between nothingness, and the horror of something?
Remember the days when she was told not to struggle,
to belay nothingness by submitting to something,
and then the later days when she was told
THAT was in fact wrong? And if you want to forget
about the him and her, and return to the safe ground
of geography, the "just the facts M'am,”
let me ask you this (yes, there is also a me and a you here,
and you know you've already decided which one
you are), consider where you are right now,
if you’re running from this poem,
and if you really had a choice.
Luisa Villani is a former Wallis Annenberg Fellow at The University of Southern California, who currently resides in New Jersey. She can't seem to land in the middle.
poem pulled from Los Angeles local news, March 10, 2010
A live interview has a witness saw her “dangling”
from a tree outstretched from the sheer cliff-face
before she lost her grip. Did she "jump”
or just merely "slide?" The different news outlets
can't seem to agree on this point (her predicament),
nor on whether she was attacked by a rapist,
a would-be rapist, or an attacker.
What is for sure: she was on top of the cliff
and something happened, and when the paramedics
got to her, she was at the bottom of the cliff,
and the person who was with her at the top of the cliff,
or who confronted her at the top of the cliff,
or whom she encountered at the cliff top,
got away with her wedding band and her SUV (or her car).
How do you write about the woman, the cliff,
the other, the ocean, the sky's nothing embrace,
the woman above, the woman below?
How do you get it right? Is there a "right"
when faced with loss, a right way to pick
between two losses, pick which one is greater,
which one is lesser, which one you'd rather lose?
If NPR says she "slid" and CBS says she "jumped"
who picked the right verb? Sure, you can bicker
about the geography of Point Dume, its rocky face,
its sandy top, and you can guess the extent of her struggle,
the intent of his actions, but let's get one thing straight.
There was a "him," and there was a "her," and in the long
history of him and her, how many times has SHE
actually had a choice? And how many times has that choice
been between nothingness, and the horror of something?
Remember the days when she was told not to struggle,
to belay nothingness by submitting to something,
and then the later days when she was told
THAT was in fact wrong? And if you want to forget
about the him and her, and return to the safe ground
of geography, the "just the facts M'am,”
let me ask you this (yes, there is also a me and a you here,
and you know you've already decided which one
you are), consider where you are right now,
if you’re running from this poem,
and if you really had a choice.
Luisa Villani is a former Wallis Annenberg Fellow at The University of Southern California, who currently resides in New Jersey. She can't seem to land in the middle.
KEEP CALM
by Chris O’Carroll
Retail giant Amazon was asked to make a "substantial donation" to a woman's refuge on Saturday night after its UK website offered T-shirts for sale promoting rape and violence against women. The T-shirts, which were also manufactured and sold in the U.S., included slogans were spun off the phrase, "Keep Calm and Carry On", a famous British propaganda slogan and included shirts that read: "Keep Calm and Hit Her", "Keep Calm and Rape a Lot" and "Keep Calm and Rape Them" for $23–$26. --Elise Solé, Shine from Yahoo! Staff | Healthy Living, Mar 4, 2013
Hey, wanna read my shirt?
It leaves some folks agape a lot,
But c’mon, who gets hurt?
It says, “Keep Calm and Rape a Lot.”
That’s one of several jests --
“. . . Hit Her,” “. . . Rape Them,” “. . . Rape Me” --
Emblazoned across chests
Clad in hilarity.
Some chicks don’t get the jokes.
Who cares, guys? My advice:
Just do a few keystrokes
And grab the merchandise.
Solid Gold Bomb (no kidding),
That’s the firm that makes the raiment.
Keep calm, girls. Do our bidding
As they strike gold with each payment.
Zeus was a badass swan;
Now any guy can be.
Log onto Amazon
And buy a pro-rape T.
Chris O’Carroll is a writer and an actor. In addition to his previous appearances in The New Verse News, he has published poems in BigCityLit, The Chimaera, 14 by 14, Umbrella, and The Cantab Lounge Anthology.
Retail giant Amazon was asked to make a "substantial donation" to a woman's refuge on Saturday night after its UK website offered T-shirts for sale promoting rape and violence against women. The T-shirts, which were also manufactured and sold in the U.S., included slogans were spun off the phrase, "Keep Calm and Carry On", a famous British propaganda slogan and included shirts that read: "Keep Calm and Hit Her", "Keep Calm and Rape a Lot" and "Keep Calm and Rape Them" for $23–$26. --Elise Solé, Shine from Yahoo! Staff | Healthy Living, Mar 4, 2013
Hey, wanna read my shirt?
It leaves some folks agape a lot,
But c’mon, who gets hurt?
It says, “Keep Calm and Rape a Lot.”
That’s one of several jests --
“. . . Hit Her,” “. . . Rape Them,” “. . . Rape Me” --
Emblazoned across chests
Clad in hilarity.
Some chicks don’t get the jokes.
Who cares, guys? My advice:
Just do a few keystrokes
And grab the merchandise.
Solid Gold Bomb (no kidding),
That’s the firm that makes the raiment.
Keep calm, girls. Do our bidding
As they strike gold with each payment.
Zeus was a badass swan;
Now any guy can be.
Log onto Amazon
And buy a pro-rape T.
Chris O’Carroll is a writer and an actor. In addition to his previous appearances in The New Verse News, he has published poems in BigCityLit, The Chimaera, 14 by 14, Umbrella, and The Cantab Lounge Anthology.
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