Serena Malcolm

A rare outing of my face to wish you all a happy #internationalwomensday and share my latest poem inspired by this quote from the BBC sitcom Here We Go:

“I actually like women’s football”
“No need to say ‘actually’, no need to say ‘women’s’”
“I… like… football”
“There you go”

The poem is called “What For”

You’re articulate 
(for a black woman)

You’re strong
(for a disabled woman)

You’re wise
(for a young woman)

You’re feminine
(for a gay woman)

You’re sexy
(for an older woman)

You’re fun
(for a Muslim woman)

You’re humble
(for an African woman)

You’re beautiful l
(for a big woman)

You’re smart
(for a blonde woman)

For a what? Why the for?
Not always spoken, at times implied
with just enough adornment to be plausibly denied,
Compliments with full compliments of hidden asterisks,
Verbal footnotes, silent fine print, unvoiced parenthesis,

Then there are the titles like female doctor, girl gamer, authoress, comedienne …
The audacity of words that hint you’re not quite as good as them,

Your qualifications need no qualification,
Don’t let them moderate your accolates,
Depreciate their appreciation and caveat their flattery,

For-mulated, 
For-tunate,
For-midable,

They’re the only fors you ever need,

So be intentional,
Be authentic, 
Be hard to ignore,
Be excellent on purpose,

And give them what for.

©️ Serena Malcolm 2024
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#poem #poetry #womanhood #beauthentic
#beintentional #excellentonpurpose