Man-Haters

• Pia Bathgate, Grade 11
• Poetry
• 2016

We’re man-haters, these newfangled women here,
Born to insult, exult and find mirth
In our taxation. We’re weeds to this
Mighty and proud empire of men,
Trodden as we leech and poisoned
With the words we steal from thrones.
The joint where we were coupled, eons ago,
Kept red and raw with gold, names and law,
Perhaps has healed, taut as the marks
Of child-bearing on our hips, the kisses on our lips.
Since dawn we have lived in shadows made by
Man and ghost alike, the cries for freedom,
For equality, silenced by our greyscale cloaks.
No longer live in namelessness,
Daughters, wives and widow,
This quest of man and woman went dusty nights ago.
No longer are we quenched by the legacy of man,
But mistake us not for man-haters, no,
But lovers, healers, mothers and founders
Of the battle for tomorrow.