A Woman With Face

She used to wear jeans
on the streets
and left her hair loose.
Then the religious schools
took the boys away
and sent back men who threw stones.
They cut off the clitoris in Africa
and heads in Afghanistan
in amphitheaters filled with cheering men
who used to fly kites
and were not afraid of a women
with a face wearing jeans.

The strength of a democracy is gauged by the way it treats women— equal rights under the law and reproductive freedom.