Womanifesto (I) January 16, 2008

I finally got around to finishing this last night, so I decided to post it up. I love to recite poetry, and have participated in the National Poetry Out Loud Competition, but I don’t write much of my own, though I do enjoy it when I do. In Cunt: A Declaration of Independence, the author, Inga Muscio, brings up the idea that every woman should write her own womanifesto -basically, a personal declaration that one is to live by. I intend on writing more of these, but here is my first one. It is meant to be recited in a spoken word/slam poetry style.

I am a SOULJA SISTA.
An army of one, and one of an army.
On my battlefield, I bleed only when my cunt says I should.
I am the commanding officer of what goes in and what comes out, so you can take your control

and wrap it up.
On my battlefield, you will not address me as “cutie” or “hunny,” but as Beautiful Equal.
My uniform, whether loose or tight, is not an invitation for diction that would compliment a piece of meat.
On my battlefield, education is required. Optimism is a necessity.
Because, you see, in this arms race, your corporate weapons of mass destruction are nothing in comparison to my mind, body, and soul.
I’m a dynamo,

and if necessary,
I will go nuclear.
So, in the name of every veteran and every victim of V-Day,
I will forever fight

for the universal human right
that is
NO WOMAN LEFT BEHIND.