Between the Apple and the Bite

Poems about Women's Predicaments in History and Mythology

Sue Woodward

• Publisher: Modjaji Books
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781928433248
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: African Poetry
• Index: Literature

The poems in 'predicaments' explore women's responses to the constraints and consequences of choices they have made. Their responses are not much changed through the millennia of myth, history and into contemporary times. The poet reflects on significant moments in the lives of women such as Helen of Troy, Delilah and Joan of Arc, and the predicaments they are faced with in a man's world.

II

delilah

I have you this time

no more teasing

with ropes and riddles

your head

is heavy in my lap

my song a lullaby

from a land beyond

the lake, my fingers

a comb to smooth

your tangled mane

black as night, shot

through with trails

of silver, your pelt

the soft sand

of the desert at dawn

your eyelids flutter

your breathing

steadies, I signal

for the maid to bring

the blades

she does not understand

my love-hate

stroking of your curls

this need for power

I am chosen for this

the chosen have no choice

careful not to tug

I hack

you do not wake

delilah

The story of Samson and Delilah comes from the Old Testament. Samson had enormous strength. As a young man, he killed a lion with his bare hands. He fell in love with Delilah, whom the Philistines bribed to tell them the secret of Samson’s strength. Delilah pleaded with Samson to tell her his secret, but Samson gave her false ways to contain him, such as tying him up with his own locks. Delilah tried all of his remedies but none of them worked, and eventually he gave in and told her the secret – “If I be shaven then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak and be like any other man”.

Source: Judges 16

salome

I am to choose a reward

for my dancing, I think

of perfume, gold bangles

to my elbow, a mud bath

from jordan, dragon robe

of silk, a falcon, a lute,

an ivory fan…

mama has a different idea

she whispers in my ear

her words drop like stones

to my belly, she forgets

that when a gecko falls

I pick it up, carry its

translucent body carefully

to the courtyard, watch it climb

hand over hand to the safety

of the jasmine…

now I am chosen to bear

a heavier weight…

a man’s head on a silver plate

a reward for my dancing

salome

Salome was the daughter of Herodias and the stepdaughter of Herod Antipas. John the Baptist angered Herodias by disapproving of her marriage to Herod. Herod imprisoned John the Baptist but was afraid to execute him, which Herodias wanted him to do, because John the Baptist was popular with the people. When Salome pleased Herod by her dancing, he promised her anything she wanted, and prompted by her mother, she asked for the head of John the Baptist.

Source: Matthew 14.1 – 14.12

judith

the powers of my sex

an angle of chin, a toss

of hair, an imperceptible

swing of the hips, a flash

of flesh, a widening of eyes

are an insult to me

you are a fool to fall

for these things and not

the complexities of my mind

my gift for language

joy at a shaft of sunlight

penetrating to the depths

of the forest

I am not a woman desperate

for the rasp of a man’s beard

on my cheek, I grip

the sword, give the nod

the servant holds your head

I close my eyes

strike with both hands

surprisingly

it is done

judith

The Book of Judith is in the Apochrypha. It tells the story of the beautiful widow, Judith, who, accompanied by a servant, bravely gains entry into the enemy camp of Holofernes, an Assyrian invading general, to seduce and kill him. She gains his trust, and one night when he is drunk, she decapitates him and takes his head back to her countrymen. The invading Assyrians, having lost their leader, disperse, and Judith’s people, the Israelites, are freed from oppression.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book-of-Judith/

mary then

at fourteen, with limited options

I was betrothed, after the vision

my belly swelled, I expected

a beating, the old man said only

we must go from here

the confinement was less than adequate

the packing up, fleeing, hiding, an ordeal

much later when I lost my son

I understood my body was a vehicle

my discomforts irrelevant

mary now

my eggs extracted and frozen

they nestle in liquid nitrogen

in a sterile facility

at the optimal time

I will select sperm

donor unknown

for race, intelligence, gender

and start the procedure

it will be an immaculate conception

a caesarean birth

I will be a virgin mother

mary then and mary now

Mary, the m...