On Sunday I went to the cinema with Rebecca, my daughter, to see the great film 'The Duchess'. Tomorrow night my Book Group will be discussing 'A Thousand Splendid Suns', about the life of an Afghan woman, Mariam. And it occurred to me that the two main characters were sisters under the skin.
And how grateful I am to be where I am, when I am!
RIGHT TIME, RIGHT PLACE!
This weeks film and this months book
Have made me realise
That I'm a fortunate woman
Winning life's greatest prize.
Born at the right time, in the right place,
In a chink in history,
I am able to be a person,
Speaking my mind and free.
I haven't been governed by childbirth
Or a man's unthinking whim,
My life has not been ruined
By being Her, not Him.
The Duchess was rich and famous,
But, also, she was a slave,
What did it matter that she was bright,
Full of ideas and brave?
Mariam was wretched,
Amongst the poorest on earth,
Because she could not overcome
The stigma of her birth.
Both women were merely chattels,
Machines for making sons.
Men were all that mattered.
They were the lucky ones.
Mrs Pankhurst came before us,
It was she who paved the way
For the fortunate modern woman
Who can say what she has to say.
Right time, right place! A Person,
Not merely just a Thing.
Not forced to be bowing under
The weight of a wedding ring.
But are we just blips in history?
Are we the odd ones out?
Will future generations
Return to fear and doubt?
Will our daughter's daughter's daughters
Look back on us and say
"Oh how I wish, oh how I wish
I could live like that today!'
2 comments:
Oh my, I hope not Brenda.
We women of a *certain age* have been so very fortunate.
I would hope and pray that all our hard fought battles will have improved the rights of generation after generation of the future women of the world.
Bear((( )))
"..Both women were merely chattels,
Machines for making sons..."
Such carefully chosen words... including the mention "sons" and not "daughters"..!!!
I am still not sure if I should discuss with God on why she/he didn't think of getting babies from the vending machine, instead.
I still think Womanhood, Motherhood and Grandmahood are to be most respected (inspite of all their tantrums :))))
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