Gender Essentialist Poem

Gender Essentialist Poem

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Woman licks gold onto paper. Woman can
also draw blood, but only if called to

by a ricochet of sunlight (I am a ricochet of
sunlight but who cares). Woman tilts

her heart towards the center of the earth.
Woman sees herself or doesn’t. Woman learns

to kiss by avoiding (I am floating
just beyond) the edge of the cliff. Woman

is where the edge of the cliff (A snowcapped
mountain, a guess of a person) meets dead

air (I). Woman is an eagle circling (I
fight to be spoken of). Woman is a radio

wave leaking voidlight (I). Woman fights to
speak (I hide inside). Woman fights. (I

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Katrina vanden Heuvel
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