I Wish You'd Dye Your Hair

Gold cherry
Poem of the week

By jem

Tue, 27 May 2014
  • 3722 reads
7 comments
 

It’s the 253 on the top near the back,

The windows are misted and water-flecked ,

There’s a clump of boys at the back,

They watch as I get on and mutter amongst themselves

Me with my book, they’re shouting and laughing hard.

Suddenly a note in my lap

In capitals sideways on lined paper:

WHEN YOU GET OFF THIS BUS WE WILL RAPE YOU.

 

You’re so over-emotional,

You can be my second-wife

(she won’t mind if we don’t tell her),

I wish you’d wear high heels.

 

Pilgrimage.

It’s hot and the air is thick,

Me in a long-sleeved T-shirt and trousers,

A group of topless men approach with camera phones

Pull my top out and

Stick their phones down and

Take photos of my breasts,

More laughing, more unafraid.

An older man approaches with a cloth,

Shakes his head at me:

Cover yourself up. This is a holy place.

 

You must be frigid,

You must be an angel,

You’re eight out of ten.

I wish you’d dye your hair.

Certificate 15
Poem

Comments

Submitted by torscot on

This  scene is all to common.

Also a sad reflection  on how men/boys  appear to treat women with total disdain.

 

 

torscot

Submitted by VeraClark on

The use of 'their' taunting voices gives this lots of strength, Jem. You highlight social and cultural norms with such authorial confidence. This makes people uncomfortable and it tortures them, they want to swat it away like flies. I say tough. I love this poem because it does something big, it's an assertion in itself and it's an exposure of consistent, systematic abuse against women. Concisely written, too.

 

Submitted by scratch on

Fabulous piece of writing.

 

Submitted by Bee on

I love this poem, too. I wish everyone in the world could read it, especially those who would / should see themselves in it. It should be filmed and shown between adverts on TV. And I'd love this to be the next poem of the week. Really well done! 

Bee

Submitted by jem on

Thank you all for the comments. This poem could have been pages longer, and I'm sure most women (and some men) could write far more. I really appreciate the positive feedback. Jem

Submitted by Canonette on

Hi Jem,

If it could have been longer, then I'd consider adding to the poem  - I'd definitely want to read it.  These things need saying.  You've personalised what seems almost to be a zeitgeist - sexual violence and misogyny feel like the spirit of the age.  I say this only minutes since viewing photographs of two Indian teenage girls hanging from a mango tree after being gang raped.

Excellent poem.

 

 

Submitted by jumble on

Hi Jem,

Your poem is stunning and shocking in its evocation of the violence that has grown and continues to grow towards women. The images you conjour with your words left me bewildered and afraid ........ what a gift you have.