2 OCTOBER WOMEN IN THE WORLD
THE FIRST LADY IS COVID SICK BUT SURELY NOT PERISHABLE
ONLY YESTERDAY SHE STOOD TALL IN HER STILETTOS
PIN SHARP PISTON LONG
ENOUGH TO PIERCE A BODY
AND COME OUT THE OTHER SIDE
MAYBE CAME IN HANDY
WHEN STEP-MOTHER-AND-DAUGHTER
WERE DUELING FOR SUPREMACY
OVER WHITE HOUSE HOSPITALITY
SUCH IS THE LARGELY DECORATIVE LIFE OF MELANIA FROM SLOVENIA
BUT WHAT REMAINS OF THAT WOMAN IN INDIA?
NEITHER FIRST NOR LAST
HER DIE WAS CASTE
TAKEN TO BE THERE FOR THE TAKING
BACK BROKEN TONGUE TORN
LIKE THE FIELD GRASS SHE WAS CUTTING
BODY CREMATED QUICKLY BY POLICE
THE MEN WHO PIERCED HER
ARE THEY FIERCER THAN THE REST?
PERHAPS THE THING TO STRESS
IS THEIR ORDINARINESS
SHE HARDLY HAD THE CHANCE TO BE EXTRAORDINARY
NOR EVEN ORNAMENTAL
WISHING WOMEN’S OPPRESSION WASN’T WHAT IT WAS+STILL IS IN VARIOUS PARTS OF THE WORLD YOURS TRULY THE NEWS POET
