vaginal discourse

or, my parents problem with the mention of body parts

at places where people may be nicely dressed 



we are	 arguing 	about 		my vagina

and its place 		in my 		graduation

we are 	 arguing 	about 		my vagina

because 		  they say 	    that it 

doesn’t belong there:



that to 		mention my 	(shocked tone) vagina!? 	at a 

ceremony 	would be a 	disgraceful thing

what would people think?!?!?  		it’d be

		   crude/crass/indignant/profane—

they’d be simply	    mortified: imagine

		my name	 in a sentence w/	 that word—

	they’d die 	from the discomfort.



my mother	without whose vagina		mine would not exist

	cannot understand	my deep offense at their 	threats

to not attend		if i quote   “this vagina will be known”      at graduation

	i tell her i am 		proud of 	my vagina  	       (though it 	     like all 

others 	 	has been       shut up and    	vilified)	       and 	

that 	only through     letting vaginas be 	    heard	  and worshipped

can we	advance         as people.



i tell her that    when parents	   instruct their offspring to 	clean   their plates 

	because	 children       are		starving in         other 

countries	they should 	instead  	teach their daughters  to 	revere   their 

clitorises 	because    girls in 	     foreign lands	                 

have theirs	     savagely	removed	and to 		give   thanks       for

 	their	vulva’s       ability to 	     open          itself      	when

 elsewhere	women’s are 	   threaded and   	sewn.



to no avail:	 we are just	semantically circling	   and i am

 	becoming teary & morose	while 	                    my vagina

(which was	so excited	to finally be      given 	       mention and    praise) 

	recoils 	like a      turtle 		into its 	  shell of shame and

is simply	mortified that	 	people don’t	cherish 	their 	universal

home 	    no matter		what  the 	    social setting.