"I cannot help your violence with like buttons" and "In My Country"

I cannot help your violence with like buttons

you will rape and cane
and without impunity
the endless
buttons
of social
crap
won’t hold you back
or stop your hand
not matter what
no beggar
rides
those wishes
electronic opiate for the masses
 
here in the ivory lands
all artists are social redeemers
we are changing the world
with our six figure canvasses
we are enlightening millions
with our xenophobic obscurity poetry
and our novels
not just stories
but writers of all wrongs
justifiers of all justices
here in the ivory lands
even our clothes
works of art
changing seasonally
the betterment of all mankind

 


 

In My Country

Women walk on eggshells

The way they dress is a rapist’s defence strategy

Their silence confers consent

Their bodies always up for grabs

In every way

There is no privacy especially of the womb

They may be legally and religiously sacrificed on the altar of boys-will-be-boys

They may be murdered at will

But have dubious right to self defence

They are not heard

They are not believed

They are not counted

Their labour not valued

That they are

Our mothers

Our sisters

Our daughters

Our beloved

May be conveniently ignored

Easier then to believe,

They are property

of the god

of the party

the state

 

 

pd Lyons

The work of pd Lyons has appeared in print and online publications throughout the world. Poetry collections have been published by Lapwing Press, Belfast, erbacce-Press, Liverpool & Westmeath Arts Council Ireland. pd was selected to participate in Human Rights Consortium at the School of Advanced Study, University of London publication titled ‘In Protest: 150 Poems for Human Rights’.

He won the 2019 erbacce-press International Poetry Prize.

pd was and raised in the USA, and currently resides in Ireland.

pd recommends Battered Women's Support Services.

 

Edited for Unlikely by Jonathan Penton, Editor-in-Chief
Last revised on Sunday, October 4, 2020 - 22:18