No will do

No will do

We bought our bodies outright,
apologised for them,
stepped into them
small and shallow,
hidden in the webs
of all we must be
as we're raised.

Our Mother's bought them,
our Grandmother's brought them
out of the wild, wide sea
on a hushed, feared projection
to sing on the precipice
of possible greatness

a resolve we may never meet
purely due to gender

never tip over,
never go to ground,
instead stand central
on the cracks made
with our DNAs unrest.

We are not holy,
built from the lower rib
of some other fully formed being,
we are not statistics,
one in four,
bodies meant for pillaging,
prizes meant for men.

We are not nightshade,
deadly when we want to
fuck into the dawn light,
consent broad
and purringly proclaimed.

We are not prudish
if we say 'no',
and we are not
confused if we'd rather
go there with our own sex,
indulge in any sex we choose -

we are also not
not able to just be
not interested.

We bought our bodies
with harassment,
lower pay,
stretched out X and Y,
the divine fucking selection,

these fantastic vessels create what's new,
tend to what is new,
feed and nurture and challenge
what is new...

So yes, we are the game changers,
with no debts to pay,
no apologies to make,
nothing not to gain
by speaking out.

No will do,
and if no is not enough
cover yourself in war paint,
woman, there's so much more to do.