Claudia Rojas

Some men shoot deer for the sake of shaking the silence in the air.

Some men change course and shoot their hate into a woman’s dignity,

these are the men who believe in entitlement to a woman’s body

because there are laws and beliefs set in place

that question her worth and control

that question her sanity and goodness.

Some men like to play God but instead become

drunken puppeteers with fingers that itch

and can trip a grounded woman over,

men like this have bellies full of pebbles

that pull at a woman’s gravity,

forcing her to descend from her pedestal of self-respect.