the "less than men"

Catcallin, whistles and stares…
Raucious statements made as she draws near
This is no way to talk or treat a woman
All it stirs in her is anger and fear

They notch their belts with conquests had
And miss entirely the point where lies true admiration and respect
Of a woman’s worth they are unaware
Their calling to be real men suffers a disconnect

These I term the “less than men”,
Males who believe they are defined by their penis
Yet, that which swings between their legs
Has nothing to do with their manly status

See, a real man may have desires to express himself like a dog
But, he has the strength of character to choose another way
A dog is held back by his master’s leash
While a real man can keep his own inner animal at bay

The man who raises his hand to a woman
Suffers an inferiority he’d rather not face
So instead this ‘less than’ uses her as a distraction
Feelin like he’s putting her in her place

When all he’s really doing
Is digging a deeper and deeper trench
The bullshit he refuses to face
Hits him full on with its foul stench

These fools run rampant the world over
They are contained within all the races
More often than not you can tell who they are
Look them in the eye, watch how fast they turn away their faces

Oh my sisters, one and all
Choose not these falsehoods with whom to live out your lives
Self love first and foremost is priority
Real men seek women who look them square in the eyes

It’s time we demanded better of ourselves,
Our Spirits ache for more than this
We must not only raise our sights to a higher calling
But then turn and help each other from the abyss

The time is now to stop this madness
treat our men and women with respect
teach our children to rise above
and forever banish our Soul's neglect

voices

i hear voices…
sometimes they drown out my own thoughts…
mean and degrading, full of blame and hate…
these voices battle for my attention
trying to lay claim to my Spirit
all the while distracting me,
from the moment…the here and now…
they pull me back to a time when ‘he’ would beat me down…
sometimes verbally, sometimes physically,
always Spiritually and emotionally...
the voices sound like anger from men who personified rage…
my father when i as a child erred in some way,
the men i chose to enter into relationships with…
all men who saw no value in me and made sure i knew it…
took me a long time to forgive my father
and even longer to accept responsibility for allowing
inferior men to become fixtures in my world...
you see, with responsibility comes power
and today, i am indeed a powerful woman with a voice of my own…
so, why do i hear these damn voices?
they seem to want to draw me back,
they question my confidence and sometimes…
sometimes...have me also questioning…
they are insistent…
insisting that i somehow deserved the abuse i suffered…
that i pushed ‘him’ to do what ‘he’ did…
that i caused his anger and brought his rage upon me…
i know this to be a lie…i do…
and yet, sometimes…i believe the voices and i dream of those days...
in my dreams i am a little girl and my tears fall silently…
i reach out to him, as his hand strikes my face…
i want to prove my worth to him…somehow earn his love…
i fail miserably and this breaks my heart…
i wake from my dreams to those voices yet again
spouting ‘i told you so’…
and for a moment, i agree…
for a moment…
and then, the warrior that is me speaks up…
her voice soft but strong...
she speaks to the little girl sitting lonely inside me,
her words wipe away the tears,
her love holds my heart, mends the brokenness
and leads me away from the noise that threatens
the peace i work so hard every day to build...
she points out that by my own example will
i lead my daughters to view themselves with esteem and love…
this thought alone is enough to dispel those wretched voices…
i am a work in progress and every day is a choice presented…
everyday the battle begins anew…
one day, i will know peace
and my daughters will walk proud knowing their mother
healed herself…
from inside the darkness…she found the light…
and faced down the voices…

she is a warrior

precious and pure she was,
you took your anger out
on her vulnerability
you bullied her fragile spirit,
and shattered her esteem
while it was still fledgling,
before she had a chance to
process for herself what was her's to blame,
which was nothing...
but she didn't know this truth
she didn't know why all this
ugliness was hers to bear
it shouldn't have been
and i as mother failed to see
failed to recognize the profound depth
of her pain
pain you were causing her
everything comes full circle
you bastard lie of a man
everything
and i am no longer blind
i see and i am angry
the lioness has awakened
and will not rest
until you pay for what you have done
and my daughter?
she is a warrior
a temple divine
and this mother will never let her forget it