by
Daniel Klawitter
in order to tame them-
to better exploit or invade them
like another country
writhing in the tentacles
of our imperialism.
But this is no poem of possession,
no sick obsession to own anyone
as if they were a thing to be owned.
So many of us walking wounded
and raw to our bones
living half-alive today.
It's sad to say,
but I am no longer surprised
when she says:
"My father battered me", or
"I was raped", "I was colonized".
Here in Babylon we all become
objects to be used
bodies to be bruised
and consumed for instant gratification.
Some men negotiate their relationships
like capitalists-
and some men declare
that I am not a man
because I do not worship
the invisible hand
of the free market economy.
I refuse to be a commodity for sale!
Some men have to always win,
but I am not "some men".
Yet I suffer their crimes
every time I touch her....
and she flinches.
Some men dismember women
and the rest of us pick up
the pieces.
Strategy Center. FRESC is a nonprofit organization dedicated to securing affordable housing, good-paying
jobs, and environmentally sound economic development for Colorado's disenfranchised communities. He has
a background in union organizing with mental health care workers, and he has previously published poetry and
essays in Religious Socialism, Sacramental Life and Zion's Herald magazine. Daniel is an ordained Deacon
in the United Methodist Church.
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