poem
Volume 34, Number 2

Why Don’t They Man Up?

Why is it never a woman
who picks up a gun
to hunt down the spouse
who is having an affair
or just wants out?

Why is it never a woman
who enters a classroom
and with a flick of the trigger
blows everyone away?

Why is it never a woman
who’s provoked to explode
a bomb at a federal building?

Why is it never a woman
who goes back to work
to shoot down the boss
and anyone else
who gets in the way?

What is the matter
with American women?


—Phyllis Wax