I
in 1981 i wound down the window/ whilst
we were stopped at the red lights/ on
the way home from a disco/ & said to
four guys in the car beside us/ love is
like a red red rose/ that's freshly
sprung in june/ they replied: give us
a blowjob cunt/ & i said: freeze freeze
thou bitter sky/ that doth not bite so
nigh as benefit forgot/ & they said:
we'll kill you/ you fuckin' slut/ & they
followed behind for awhile/ their full
beams spotlighting us through the back
window/ donna turned her rear vision
mirror up/ & the girls were angry with
me for causing trouble
II
mum said: you are obsessed with vaginas/
ever since you've been going to that
women's group that's all you seem to
talk about/ give it a break/ & i said:
mum whether you like it or not you have
a vagina/ & i have a vagina & they're
not going to go away in a hurry/ in fact
vaginas are everywhere/ on every busy
street corner/ along footpaths & in
shopping centres/ seated in buses & in
picture theatres/ when you least expect
it one will come around a corner/ &
suddenly you will be having a bath or
a shower & you will be confronted with
your own vagina
III
when i refused to shave under my arms/
my brother dale said at the dinner table/
you dirty moll/ the family were embarrassed
& got turned off their meal/ & mum said:
how can you expect to meet anyone decent
like that?/ think of how it will affect
your career/ no wonder you've been in
abusive relationships/ at high school i
was slammed up against a glass door by
the throat/ my chin pushed up towards
my nose by senior boys/ who told me that
i better shave my legs or be killed/ that
same afternoon one of them came &
sat next to me on the school bus/ &
started feeling up my legs/ i stabbed
him in the thigh with my compass
