Ah men, the bane of women,
amen. We pray, we sing this hymn,
that we be not prey to him.
Man’s heart can be but steel,
thieves striving to steal
hour after hour,
our rights to our very selves,
rites that celebrate our being.
Would that we remain on course
coarse not as his ways claim.
We weigh our choices wisely
for we are not poor in intellect.
Pour not your wiles on us sirs,
while we know our truths.
Your heels shall not tread in judgment
for we know only compassion heals.
Tears shall be shed in any decision
for we are caring women, all dear,
not deer caught in your short-sited scope.
And so I repeat to you this hour,
our voices, our bodies,
our strength is in togetherness.
Amen I say to you.
Ah men, we pray they listen.
Written for Tuesday Poetics at dVerse where today, Merril asks us to think about using an echo technique in our poetry…or to write somehow about the idea of echo. I’ve used homophones to echo sounds….two words that sound the same but are spelled differently and have different meanings. There are 12 homophones here. Two use one word as a plural (wiles and and while; ways and weigh). Can you find the other 10? Photo from the Womens’ March in Boston, the day after President Trump’s inauguration. I was there with my daughter.
lillian the home poet 
I love how you had a bit of echo from line to line in your poem… maybe it is like that sometimes speaking to men.
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Lillian, this is wonderful.
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Oh, this is wonderful, Lillian! Wow!
I was at the march in Philadelphia with sisters and daughter.
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Manifesto, indeed, Lilian, a bit tongue in cheek with index finger poking hairy chests; I, as a man, hear you clearly. Very clever use of echo verse, slipping it in quietly within the body of the piece; remarkable.
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Somehow Glenn, I suspect you like my husband, would not be among the men being addressed here.
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Brilliant and wise. My son’s old girlfriend knitted a pussy hat, gave it to my daughter in-law, and she gave it to me. Whenever I wear it, I get a power surge, seriously! Ah Men, please hear our pleas, Amen. Love this poem, Lillian.
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Somehow I knew you would not be among the men being addressed here. 😊 So glad you enjoyed.
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🙂
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Cleverly done.
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This is so well done. How clever to use the homophones to create your echo.
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You have to y everything at least twice to a man, no matter who they are. Love how you did this!
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Say
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This is impressive. I love the homophones and the effective way that they echo, but with new meaning.
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Fun to find homophones: hymn/him, hour/our, course/coarse, steel/steal, heels/heals, dear/deer, Amen/Ah, men. I admire your poem, Lillian! (even if disappointed by dreadful headgear and trampling of unborn daughters’ rights)
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I watched an excellent TV programme about Margaret Atwood recently and your ‘Manifesto’ reminded me of her, Lill. I had fun looking for the homophones – that was a great way to echo sounds. We could almost echo Trump with chump…
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Nice.’ strength is in togetherness.’ So true.
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kaykuala
Woman power, a persuasive stance will sure bring the desired result mainly because generally man has a soft spot when presented with the soft approach
Hank
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Good point that only compassion heals.
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I’m listening ….
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I love the word play, the echoes, and hope someone listens.
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Such creative play on Amen and Ah men . An echoing poem!
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Awesome Lill!!! Loved the play with words yet the message is clear.
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This what keeps the craft so interesting. – the way we get to echo meaning,strengthen and reiterate it with form. Thanks for this twist on the use of homophones, I will add it to my tool belt.
The courthouse square in my little town in Texas filled to overflowing with women. I was there. Women meet so joyfully with such good humor to protest even when we’re mad as hell. I wore the pussy hat my sister made me and a sign saying “I can’t believe I still have to protest this SOS!
Incredibly heartening to stand with women incredibly sad that we still have to do it.
Thank you for this poem and the picture.
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An excellent manifesto.
And if only certain men in particular had ears that could hear something other than their own voice…(K)
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profound message and love your style using the homophones here, unusual but makes me read it closer!
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Brilliant manifesto, with excellent echoes!
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