The Men on the Street Corner
They stand in solidarity,Bibles raised like warrants,
pamphlets at the ready.
They shout into the noise
of street traffic,
fumes and smoke rising
like incense,
the perfect special effects
for the hell they promise.
They do not speak
of mercy.
It is the women,
especially the strong ones,
who receive their chastisement.
Jezebels. Whores.
they call them -
women who dare
to think,
to act,
without a man’s permission.
How dare they?
Once, a man knelt in the dust
beside a woman condemned
and asked who among them
was without sin.
These men twist scripture
for condemnation and judgment.
No one here is kneeling.
Men like these -
self-righteous, self-assured -
stand not only here
but across this nation,
around the world,
speaking of sin
as though they are untouched by it.
Girls are bought and sold
in locked rooms, disappeared,
parents left to wonder.
Girls are married off
to older men, situation solved,
parents left unburdened.
Girls give birth, alone,
in detention camps,
parents unaware.
One hundred fifty girls
at their desks, ready to learn,
die in airstrikes,
parents left to mourn.
And still
the men stand.
Poetry by Melinda K Zarate
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Written on 2026-03-02 at 03:41
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