Things I See
In the New York Times
April 2014
Cat Calling
It is time we pasted it up all over the place
I am not here for you
I am not your fantasy
I am not your property
I am not a body for you to abuse
It is time we posted it in the schools
Offices,
Government buildings,
Shops,
Libraries
Department Stores
And Costco
And Walmart
And well
Damnit
Everywhere
You with the big rude mouth,
Who taught you to call out “Your
Ass is too big for me to fuck.”
“I bet you Asian girls take it any way I give it.”
“Hey baby, I bet you like it hard and nasty.”
“She looks like a virgin but I bet she ain’t.”
Who raised you? What made you the senseless,
Selfish, twisted man who
Only knows how to demean women?
Who didn’t love you? Who taught you that
Women were nothin’? Who taught you
That you were nothin’?
You can’t grab my ass in an elevator
You can’t put your arms around
Me in a smothering grip because
I’m standing next to you
“Hey baby…?” I’ll hey baby
you and say, my body is my body
it is not your property, not ever
Don’t call me bossy because I know my mind,
You’re decisive
Don’t call me bitch when I disagree
You’re smart
Don’t call me vain when I dress nice
You’re groomed
Too bad you don’t like me
Too bad you can’t take the time to
Know who I am, because then you’d have to know
Yourself
And that might freak you out
But I won’t give up.
We gotta start all over, don’t we.
We have to post it all over America,
All over South America, in Asia
In the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Australia, Russia,
Europe, Africa and the United Kingdom
I am a woman. I am a person just like you
I will use my paste and my
Art and my voice and
Let you know that I see you
That I know you don’t see me
I will teach you to see me
To see all women
But if I ask that of you
I must see you too
How do we reach out?
How do you take my hand?
How does this end?
storytellerla 