Women’s Bodies, Contested Spaces

In a world we all know too well
Women’s bodies bear violence—scarred
A contested space, a battleground
Where autonomy is a forlorn wish
Where choice, stripped away and silenced, becomes
A ghost of it’s once true self
Where home is where the harm is
How can love unfurl its wings?
How can dreams find light when darkness lingers
Where safety should sing?

For one in three women—intimacy’s touch turns violent
Every 10 minutes—for one woman—intimacy’s touch turns turbulent
As love’s promise becomes the cold hand of death
With no right to say no, no right to say yes—
When to bear life or when to hold it close
Their own bodies betrayed by laws and customs, imposed
Written by hands that will never know
The weight of their words, death sentence proposed

Rape—A Weapon of War

In conflicts that rage beyond borders
Male invasion, rape—a weapon of war—a tool, a tactic
Conquering women’s flesh like spoils
While in the hollow halls of the United Nations
Resolutions inked by men with pens, spill
Like blood, staining sheets
Emptying hearts of life’s own source
Yet, still, governments choose steel and flame
Investing in war machines, no peace to gain
Conflicts on women’s bodies play out, the ultimate price paid

Uprooted!

Uprooted! from their soil
Women and girls drift like leaves falling from withering trees
Their homes lost to gunfire, to flood, to flame
Their world, quaking, shifting beneath their feet
Displaced by war, exiled by climate’s rage
They wander borderless, unanchored
Carrying memories of lands once called home
Searching for safety in a world, fractured
No longer their own

New Dawn, Reborn

But now, imagine a dawn
Reborn

A world rebuilt from root to sky
Where hands that hold are only gentle
Where bodies, once haunted, are fully free
Imagine a world where choice is sacred
Where every woman’s voice rings clear
Her body is her sovereign land
A place of power, of life, of joy

Imagine girls, unafraid to play
With futures bright as the skies above
And women, unbroken, now as rooted as trees
No longer the spoils of collateral damage
No longer bent beneath a burdened silence
No longer survivors, but whole
Free to choose, to create—
They thrive

A World Beyond Fear

A world beyond fear, a world that is just
Where equality stands as tall as the sequoia
And equity flows as long as the river of the Nile
Here, love needs no pen to promise, no ink to spill
Every woman, every girl
In freedom walks, unbounded—
Potential fulfilled, a force unchained in change

Afterword: This poem commemorates the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence (November 25–December 10). In it I reflect on the injustices faced by women and girls globally, from violence in their homes to the denial of autonomy. It envisions a future of safety, equality, and justice, calling for action to uphold their rights and dignity. This is my life’s work!!

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In creative solidarity, Dee