All I am allowed to be is a purse
Looked for to be held underarm
My existence made into a curse
Like grass in your tidy farm
I take your name, your identity
You own me, and I am your property
My words means nothing, like jingling keys
I am like a dog kept to stay on a leash
I wait on you like a servant
Prepare your bath and wash your clothes
When it comes to my needs you are adamant
I do not count, I am a necessity you chose
You purchased me from my parents
Now I owe you my life and existence
Our children are yours
But mine to look after when crawling on all fours
When they do good, you take credit
When they fail, your accusations I merit
I become a shadow moving in your patriarchal world
And you wield the authority as a warrior's sword
You don't protect me with it
But stab my heart continuously until there is left no beat
And in the end
I am nothing but the carrier
Of your seeds that
Populate the earth
This piece touches the experience of women in societies that are patriarchal and a woman's place is disregarded. She's looked down upon and not allowed to have an opinion even in her own home. Unfortunately, this is the plight of the women in the society I grew up in. One would expect that civilization and advancement in the state of mind will curb this, but no. Modern day women are still very much oppressed.