Thursday, September 13, 2007

collected from Eve Ensler site

**this should be in two line and three line stanzas.

Scene 1

(4-21-05)

the girls

from Winona

had pins

"i heart my vagina"

they had the play at their school

the school is trying

to get the girls

in trouble for the pins.

Scene 2 APRIL 8, 2002.

WE ARE EMPLOYED AT ______OF PRISONS.

I REPORTED

HE WAS ARRESTED

CHARGED

THEY KEPT HIM ON THE JOB,

I HAVE A RESTRAINING ORDER

HE PLED GUILTY

RECEIVED 15 MONTHS PROBATION AND A STAY AWAY ORDER.

THE ______ OF PRISONS

ALLOWS HIM TO WORK

I HAD TO TAKE LEAVE

I HAVE BEEN OUT OF WORK

I AM NOW NOT BEING PAID.

Scene 3

I was 16 years old.

I helped him with homework.

He was 18

drank gin tonics.

He invited me to a party.

I didn't go to parties.

It was loud.

The house smelled like puke.

I didn't drink.

I didn't dance.

He told me to loosen up.

I asked for some juice.

He brought it.

His eyes changed.

He watched me take a sip

then another.

My sweatshirt is over my head

I can't see anything.

I don't know what's going on.

My hands are over my head.

I try to cry out

I remember three of them

who knows how many there were.

I woke up the next morning with my clothes half on.

Scene 4

As a Middle Eastern woman

I have been taught to be silent.

My grandmother claims that silence

and control go

hand in hand.

What kind of logic is that?

The same logic that made it ok

for my father to rape my mother.

The same logic that reassured

a friend to take advantage of me

The same logic that put my mother in abusive relationships.

The same logic for my uncle's physical abuse

The same logic that leaves women like me feeling helpless and confused.

As a middle eastern woman, I defy that logic.

Scene 5

until I was 11

I was molested by my sister.

As a young man

I felt marginalized

I had been victimized

by a woman.

Scene 6

calling on activists

to speak out against

the “Rapist Number One” doll

released by NECA in conjunction

with the Quinton Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez film Grindhouse.

The doll,

modeled after filmmaker

Quentin Tarantino’s character in the film

has been displayed widely

on talk shows such as The Jimmy Kimmel Show

and is available online

and at selected toy stores across the nation.

2 comments:

Andrew Hall said...

I really like this Andrea... I hope you workshop it. It demonstrates the balance needed more or less between rhetoric and poetry. There are some really important things to discuss here.

Christina said...

Agreed. Your timing in this is brilliant. beautiful work.