They say the artist must be willing
to be naked, to rip flesh from her
own bones & give it to the world
for safekeeping. She must stand
before sleepless eyes & speak
our sins. She must ignore creeping
fingers & clattering teeth, hands
holding olive branches & knives
unsure which one they'll raise.
Because if she doesn't, if she
lets fear clench her tired muscles
close, she removes the voices
from the throats who need it most.
But she was never ready to be
a skeleton shivering on our stage.
She was never ready for the knives.
Accents Publishing is proud to bring to you the first poetry collection by Affrilachian poet Yvonne Johnson. I Am Woman is an exploration of how patriarchal societies define womanhood. Many women find themselves in a world where rape culture and purity culture dominate how they view their body and what it means to be a woman. This chapbook confronts many topics from the sexualization of the female body and a lack of sexual education to experiences of sexual abuse and the complexities of gender.