Pain(t)ing

Willard House by Lisa Gordon Photography

They took my books

Said all that reading wasn't good

for a woman's mind

So I started writing

They burned my papers

and spilled my ink

Said my useless nattering

just proved that I wasn't 'right'

What else could I do but paint?

I painted the walls with my monthly blood

I painted the nightmares that visited my bed

I painted the screams stuck in my throat

But mostly, I painted rage

Deep, dark, red rage

I should have known better

An insane woman is an embarrassment

An angry woman is a danger

So they put me in this place

with bars on the windows like a jail

or a zoo

to be punished

and tamed.

submitted for Imaginary Garden With Real Toads, Artistic Interpretations with Margaret, Willard Asylum