A few years, at the Greenbelt festival, a woman named Tasha told a story at one of our Tenx9 sessions. It was a fantastic story - full of insight. Since then, we've kept in touch, and I've read a few of Tasha's poems. I read her latest poem 'spiders of misogyny' and asked if I could put it up.
spiders of misogyny
when I call you out on the third rape joke this week, you moan
you moan to me about how it is only a bit of fun
about how it is so outrageous that I should know you don't mean it
you moan that I am not letting you be one of the guys
when I ask you to stop being sexist and making comments about getting back in the kitchen
when I tell you the statistics you say "but what about the men?"
when I tell you about the men in a van who called out to me on the street with leering eyes you say "isn't that a compliment"
when I tell you I like baggy tops because they cover my body
and you say it is not fair
it is not fair
and you are right for all the wrong reasons
you do not understand
you cannot understand
and when a man sprays bullets
killing 7 women stone dead
and the media tries to fabricate a web of intricacies about mental health and misconception
you sit at the centre
and watch the flies get caught
and I walk through life afraid of the cobwebs
because I know that they are where the spiders lie