praying to patriarchs

thread bare dress

sinew and bone

calloused feet on ground

hands in air

I have four kids,

don’t call me lazy,

I work three jobs,

none pay a living wage

I’m not your incubator

to impregnate and leave

I make ends

that have no end – meet

pay me a living wage

and give me my rights

Mary chose her plight

why not me?

an ekphrastic poem for Why Me, an ink drawing on mulberry paper, by Una Kim last night at the Orangeburg county Fine Arts Center.

(photos by the artist, Janet Kozachek)

5-20-21