Poetry Prompts and Inspiration Day 13 April PAD Challenge and NaPoWriMo 2023

 

Image by María_Alberto from Pixabay

Today's prompts conspired to inspire me to go into full angry feminist mode (definitely not the fun kind.)

https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-poetry/2023-april-pad-challenge-day-13

The April PAD Challenge prompt asks participants to write a "forgive" poem.

My poem begins with the line "forgive me if my continuing demands."

https://www.napowrimo.net/day-thirteen-9/

I couldn't get into today's prompt from NaPoWriMo, which asks participants to try writing a short poem (or a few, if you’re inspired) that follows the beats of a classic joke. However, I fit in the "joke" theme by impressing upon the reader the fact that feminism is no joke to me. 

I also make it clear that by feminism I do not mean third-wave, choicey-choice, show your tits for a cause, slutwalk, "sex work is empowering" fauxminism. I mean real, uncompromising, for the purpose of emancipating women from male-dominated and male-oriented power structures feminism. I mean the kind of feminism fueled by rage at the biases women still face. I mean feminism that has the courage to say the word WOMAN. I mean feminism that is committed to making the world a better place for females. I mean feminism that has the courage to say what needs to be said, even if it isn't pretty or might piss people off. 

That's the kind of feminism I've been supporting since 1973 when I was just eight years old. That's the kind of feminism I'll support to my dying day, and beyond if there is a beyond. 

~Ornery Owl is Still Fighting the Good Fight For Women's Rights~

Image by Willgard Krause from Pixabay

Here is what I was listening to while creating this post.

https://odysee.com/@Rave_Archive:e/Ed-Rush---Optical---Wormhole-%281998---Virus%29:c?r=GTwnGJ4fFBQfzuJgpHVpfKBKaC9b8B16

November PAD Challenge 2022: Day 25: For a Moment

 

Image by 愚木混株 Cdd20 from Pixabay

I wonder if society will ever

if only for a moment

give a damn about the words spoken by a woman

rather than obsessing about the size of her chest

which could be concave for all it matters

is the focus on female appearance

a deliberate tactic to keep a woman in a shell

while man fools himself that she hasn't the sense

to assemble a jigsaw puzzle because she stays silent

if she is home stirring the pot for his dinner, so he reasons

she can't be stirring up trouble elsewhere

society is set up so women not paired with a man fare poorly

conversely, many women entangled with men also fare poorly

a man who does not have his finger on the pulse 

of female dissatisfaction with our lot in life

will fail to notice that the pendulum has swung

away from the idea that a woman needs a man to be complete

a woman needs confidence

she needs an education

she needs opportunity

if she has all these things

she may decide in the end

she doesn't need a man

for anything at all

a woman with dreams can go far

perhaps even to the stars

if she perseveres

and engages her ingenuity

~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~

Image by S. Bartels from Pixabay

Girls are magical beings

Their imagination and ingenuity should be nurtured.

notes and prompts used

https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-poetry/2022-november-pad-chapbook-challenge-day-24

For today's prompt, take the phrase "For (blank)," replace the blanks with a word or phrase, make the new phrase the title of your poem, and then, write your poem.

https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-poetry/2022-november-pad-chapbook-challenge-day-25

For today's prompt, write a serious poem.

I'm deadly serious about feminism and have been since I was eight. That's damn near fifty years of feminism under my belt. I find the state of today's feminism very concerning. Feminism that doesn't stand up for the rights of women and girls to be something besides decor or helpmeets for males is not feminism. Slutwalk and flash your boobs for a cause "feminism" is not feminism. 

We ain't there yet, Baby. Now's not the time to quit fighting.

https://imprompt.wordpress.com/2022/11/25/day-25-2/

Word List

chest

concave

damn

deliberate

finger

jigsaw

poorly

shell

stir

swung

Today's Playlist

https://odysee.com/@GamingAmbience:6/deus-ex-mankind-divided-prague-ist-4:9?r=GTwnGJ4fFBQfzuJgpHVpfKBKaC9b8B16

https://odysee.com/@GamingAmbience:6/deus-ex-mankind-divided-prague-2:e?r=GTwnGJ4fFBQfzuJgpHVpfKBKaC9b8B16

April PAD Challenge/NaPoWriMo 2022 Day 11

https://youtu.be/rptW7zOPX2E

Hello Poetry People. My piece today went in a feminist direction, and not the sexy fun kind. I'll give you the prompts I used and then explain my inspiration.

True Power

Prompts Used

https://www.napowrimo.net/day-eleven-10/

Write a poem about a very large thing

https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-poetry/2022-april-pad-challenge-day-11

Write a power poem

I am a very large female thing and it's no secret that large women get shit on by society. However, some of you may find it hard to believe is big women are both reviled and targeted as conquests by creepy men who think we're all desperate and easy marks. In my case, you can add being socially awkward and now physically disabled to the mix. 

The end result? Being hit on by the same nasty-ass men who make rude comments about my body because they don't think I have the self-respect to tell them to fuck off entirely.

Being desirable to men is not my life's purpose and it shouldn't be any woman's life's purpose. If that man doesn't like me for me, even if he deigns to accept me despite my being fat and "ugly," what the fuck do I need his useless ass around for? I don't. 

Never accept someone's emotional abuse. You deserve better than that. And, if you happen to be large in a society that keeps trying to sell us dumb diet plans that don't work, fuck that emotional abuse too.

Here's a bonus track for today's inspiration. Someone made a cool animation for Helen Reddy's beautifully eerie song Angie Baby. I hope you enjoy it!

https://youtu.be/xuNYEUYtD8c

~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~

Fat and Ornery

Free use image from Open Clipart Vectors

Hangry Wyrm says "Riots, not diets!"

Free use image from Pixabay

OctPoWriMo 2019: Day 11: Silence the Dissenting Bitches

Image by StockSnap from Pixabay

in the echo chamber

chamber at the center

center of the chaos

chaos when you enter

the noise of your mindless mind

mind that you mind your p's and q's, bitches

bitches submit to the muzzle

muzzle the dissenting witches

gag them from the first unwanted kiss

kiss, just kiss, move on her like a bitch

bitch don't want it, what the bitch want don't matter

matter one iota if you get to scratch your itch

no respect for women, you can do anything

anything you want so long as you're a star

star in your own movie in your narcissistic head

head right off to prison and be a star behind bars

~Sly Has Spoken~

Notes:

This eviscerating verse was snarled out by Cie's badly behaved radical harridan alter-ego, Sly Fawkes, who wishes to remind you of the following words spoken by Emperor Commodus Trump and caught on tape. Sly is thrilled that The Humiliation of the American People appears to be going down in flames, and she has popcorn, hot dogs, and marshmallows ready to roast over the impeachment inferno.

“I moved on her like a bitch, but I couldn’t get there. And she was married.”

“I did try and fuck her. She was married.”

“Just kiss. I don’t even wait. When you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.”

“Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.”

Image copyright juliahenze @123rf.com

OctPoWriMo 2019: Day 3: Aunt Cie's Soapbox: Leave My Old Womb Alone (Choka)

Image by Solarus from Pixabay

lay off my old womb

I am not a candidate

for new motherhood

I can no longer achieve

reproduction, no

but it would not bring me joy

to endure the pain

of removing my old womb

it is my life choice

to keep my organs intact

despite a slightly

elevated chance that I

develop cancer

somewhere well on down the line

any womb is not

only worth saving when it

is available

to serve as incubator

~Cie~

Note:

The poem references the incidents of 2018 when my life continued revolving around my uterus despite the fact that the painful periods I had endured for 40 years had come to an end. In April of 2017, and again in April of 2018, I experienced post-menopausal bleeding, and in June of 2018, I underwent a D&C to determine the nature of the endometrial cells.

Had the cells been abnormal or the endometrial hyperplasia complex, this would have elevated my risk of future endometrial cancer by 36%, in which case I would have opted for a hysterectomy.

My cells were normal and it was simple hyperplasia. This only increases the risk of endometrial cancer by 1.6%. In the end, I felt that the risks posed by undergoing a hysterectomy, which is a major surgery no matter how casual a spin doctors try to put on it, were greater than opting for a wait and see approach. 

Post-menopausal endometrial hyperplasia can occur for a variety of reasons. It is more common in Caucasian women, in women over fifty, in women with a larger body type, and in diabetic women. I am a large Caucasian woman over fifty with a large body type who has diabetes. As it turned out, I also had a number of small fibroids in my uterus which were probably irritating the endometrium and causing it to overgrow.

My primary care physician wanted me to have a hysterectomy.

My OB/GYN wanted me to have a hysterectomy.

The gynecologic oncologist whom I consulted wanted me to have a hysterectomy.

This despite the fact that all of them quoted a very low increased likelihood of the type of hyperplasia I was experiencing ever developing into cancer.

I had one of those obnoxious trans-vaginal ultrasounds in February of this year which showed that the endometrial lining was still slightly thicker than normal but had greatly reduced in size and was within the perimeters of acceptable. I did not experience bleeding in April of this year. My OB/GYN wanted to do another D&C, but I said no. There was no presenting reason to undergo a procedure that leaves me feeling like someone has been up in my business with a cheese grater.

I consulted with a radiologist who specializes in a procedure called uterine artery embolization, which utilizes tiny radioactive grains to block the uterine arteries and cut off the blood supply to the fibroids so they shrink and cease to cause trouble. As opposed to a hysterectomy, which is a major surgery, this is a minimally invasive approach. The doctor told me I was not a candidate for the procedure because fibroids will shrink on their own after menopause, but she agreed with me that since I had not experienced post-menopausal bleeding this year, the endometrial thickness is within acceptable boundaries, and my hyperplasia is the low-risk variety for future development of cancer, a wait and see approach makes sense in my case. She discussed this with my OB/GYN and the gynecologic oncologist, and they agreed with her.

During The Year Of Focusing Way Too Much On My Uterus, I learned just how quick doctors are to recommend a hysterectomy to post-menopausal women. If a woman can no longer serve as a baby factory, let's just yank the old plumbing out, risks be damned. The fact is, major surgery is always risky although sometimes the risks of surgery are necessary. It is also a fact that the female reproductive system provides benefits to its owner even after menopause and unless it is malfunctioning in a way that makes life unacceptably uncomfortable or poses risks to a woman's health, it's best to leave it alone.

Uterus: it's not just for incubating infants. 

That's been Aunt Cie's Soapbox, Ladies! Hysterectomy is sometimes necessary, but it tends to be overprescribed, particularly in post-menopausal women.