The Corporate Men- Valerie Hathaway

The corporate men were sitting at a table

Talking about how to use social media

To bring more youths to their ‘business’

Yet locking out all the women

I rolled my eyes but thought yes,

Yes, that would happen here

 

There are many brainwashed men here

By politics and political churches

And young women are told to be silent

And subservient to the men

Yet many would go into science

Be excellent scientists, if you will

 

Dragged by their parents against their will

Become an engineer until you have babies

Then throw your degrees out with the diapers

Learn how to make a juicy pot roast

Where the meat falls apart like your dreams

Yes, you are smart but you’re a mother now

 

Yet the tides are turning at the edges now

They don’t want to be the servants

They want to become the goddesses

They want their careers without the kids

They want to serve more than the men

And the brainwashed men don’t understand

 

Until they are empty, they will then understand

When all that is left is ego and martinis

They will bemoan and be told, “We told you so,

Women are not to be trusted, but subdued”

And the next rape will come and the next

Until the women rise and say “Enough!”

 

We’re tired of not being pretty enough

We’re tired of not being good enough

We’re tired of playing by your rules:

Be the Mother and then be a sex object

Come with us or go without, either way

We’re not walking down this road again

 

You shoot us in the classrooms again

You run us over with cars again

You throw bombs in concerts again

You drop bombs in cities again

And what purpose does that serve?

Hide your body in your clothes, you say

 

Don’t show your shoulders in school, you say

Don’t bare your soul to the world

By mountain and field you rape the world

And leave us in hills of trash

Buy the makeup, buy the heels, buy the dress

But don’t blame us for pinning you down

 

Because corporate men will put you down

Boys will be boys–and assault you again

Until you rise up and show some free will

 

Image courtesy of Google

© 2018 Valerie Hathaway

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Valerie Hathaway is a middle-aged disabled veteran. She writes poems about mental illness, body positivity, and the transition into midlife and beyond. She is currently posting her work at www.utawena.com and on her Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/vahathaway/). She is also writing a book of poems concerning middle age. She is a Creative Writing major at Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio.

When not writing Valerie looks for clothes that fit her plus-size body, enjoys witty dialogue with her adult daughter, and watches vet shows with her husband. Originally from Oregon, she now lives in Ohio with her family and two cats that are also middle-aged (in cat years).