The Shape of A Woman

Lilith (20cm x 20cm, Oil on Linen)

The Shape of A Woman

(from the poem collection “Dear Patriarchy, A Flower For Your Grave”)

What is the shape of a woman?

It is our breasts, our scars

Our skin, our hair

Our uterus

And nothing more

“My sister!”

She cried.

At the moment a soul so bright

Was reduced to the shape of a woman.

The window looked out

Onto city streets, ablaze with a looming fire

Blood and ash intertwine

As roaring voices in the distance

Harmonize with the quiet weeping by your side

Into a perfect cacophony of grief and fury

As they have decided

That she didn’t fit

The shape of a woman

That they didn’t fit

The shape of a woman

That he didn’t fit

The shape of a woman

Because he cut off his breasts, and they shaved their hair

And she wanted to wear her hijab

Differently this year

As red fills our field of vision

In this sisterhood of blood

Who are they to decide

What’s the shape of a woman?

About the Writer

Lucifer Morningstar (they/them)

22, from Shanghai. Jazz composer and vocalist, bassist, painter, poet, abolitionist. 3rd year at Senzoku Gakuen College of Music, Jazz and American Music Program.

Instagram: @‌nonbinaryjazzmagician Email: ayloranoel6661@gmail.com

Edited by Emiru Okada