Swallowed by a Shark

womanhood i put you down!
mark me not, I am not this gender fixed
denounce the mere distinction, i do!
disgraceful interpretation of sight

spoons i bid you lose sound
clacking genital clowns
stick a cross in me when I'm done
before I live to be rich
what a curse a lying man's money is

I prepared more bread
as slanted control freaks got hitched
they bought crystal to use once a year
nick knacks and fruit bowls to rattle
and procreate conservatism
(an overused saddle)
the homemaker occupies a hobby
needling throw pillows
while the working man goes to lobby
snobby alloys consume power tools

meanwhile the oranges in the wedding gift
go uneaten and sour too
fruit flies swarm the nectar of nowhere
leaving their larva on open watermelon
I had to throw it away
but I kept dishes to match
down to the blackest seed
the man took out the trash while his wife was ironing

i spit out the seeds of my shadow
before the sun turned down
sheeted roles, these genders
on their hides i cut my teeth
blasted and baseless names to form
based on form, a female is not so stripped under siege
How do we reconcile
eras of time and tradition
with gender and race inscribed minds?

In the days of Christ and craze
i walked as a daughter of Jerusalem
a title I am still inclined to save
(if nothing else)
the hillsides were rolling as i gathered moss
tossing sleepers from their graves
stirring psalms of souls
whispering to gentle galaxies
in a single bowl of oneness, the whole

apostles came to me, searching
searching for resolve, for a reason to be bold
boldness beyond an exposed breast
from the Christ inside these words cried
lest my peace be patient with you
may thy will to forgive and be forgiven take hold
the earth is not what you will become
heaven sent you are, more than some
only visiting down below
Be happy in the harvest and go

God grant me strong hands
to throw my womanhood to the sharks!
I want to live in the belly of the beast
once I have been digested
I shall know spiritual release
I felt it once, so long ago
before my eyes became my ears
my breasts were two wings
I heard the glowing ones hark
before my legs were one fin
my wings were His mind
swimming ever through
unity in the infinite divine

and when one fin swam over the moon
a time before kings were made of Lear
my orbit no longer marooned
i knew you in God's purity
before the world dubbed you
sexiest man of the year
birth instilled needless insecurity
and people were controlled by fear
understand if you have ears

do you know who you really are?
whose sea you are in?
if so, by all means
Swim Jesus fish
swim, swim!

(C) Jessica Robbins