Patriarchal Societies

Posted on by Reena Saxena
Gerard sekoto- woman with downcast eyes

Your beautiful eyes
carry a shame – it’s not yours

Mirrors do not show flaws
so accusing fingers can’t see theirs
-it will take your eyes to see
and your courage to speak
to tell them
they are tainted

Whatever venom they spew
The underlying instinct is the same
You dared to stay out of the chorus
sing their tune
follow their instructions

Gerard Sekoto - The Song of the Pick

they don’t like composers
it’s a right they erroneously assume as theirs
look up, lady
you need to penetrate the world
with your vision
and let them know you exist
outside imposed boundaries

Image by Sipping Thoughts

Tuesday Poetics – Exploring the art of Gerard Sekoto hosted by Melissa Lemay

Credits:

Prompt Images are paintings by Gerard Sekoto

The last image is a quote by Sipping Thoughts

18 thoughts on “Patriarchal Societies”

  3. A defiant tribute Reena – a powerful reminder that the ‘shame’ people try to project onto others is usually just a reflection of their own inability to control what they don’t understand 🙌

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  8. I love that you were inspired by both paintings, Reena, especially in the lines:

    ‘You dared to stay out of the chorus
    sing their tune
    follow their instructions’

    and

    ‘you need to penetrate the world
    with your vision
    and let them know you exist
    outside imposed boundaries’.

    Liked by 3 people

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