This poem was submitted for publication on the 'Other Words' pages of WorkInWords.net in the weeks following the murder of a young woman in London in 2021.
The male writer is Anon.
Stay home
It’s not normal, it never was, and it never should be.
Some men thinking they can just take what they see.
Creating women’s ‘gilded’ cage, through cloying male ego.
A step outside risks surfing a turbulent wave of male libido.
She compliantly conformed to women’s unwritten code.
Demurely clothed, wearing sensible shoes, as she strode.
Absolutely no Agent Provocateur, no attempt to beguile.
Just a zipped-up coat, a warm hat and a smile.
Aware of the omnipresent evil she never wanted to meet.
Now she’s missing, vanished from a public street.
Stay home, stay safe, all of womanhood is told.
Light a candle, don’t tempt the horror to unfold.
Her abduction then murder brings the age-old advice.
It’s the testosterone psychosis, we must analyse.
Womanhood defiled, yet another female soul dead.
Surely, it’s time to tell all men to stay home instead.
Men and boys need to tell men and boys, respect.
A daughter, sister, wife and mother is not an object.
So, educate the ignorant, how boys should be men.
But correction for some will need more than a pen.
Caveman’s genealogy has no place in modern society.
Men inherently carry this club, causing female anxiety.
When education doesn’t remove the causation.
Is it time for hormone therapy and chemical castration?
Anon, male 2021
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