[Editors’ Note: Learn about how the “Nine Poets Speak” series came to be in place here.]
Annie Finch with her book, Spells, photo by Karen Middleton
He who wastes a woman’s will
Burns in flames that never still.
He who mocks a woman’s mind
Will be ruined by the wind.
He who abuses a woman’s body
Mother Earth won’t feed nor bury.
He who hurts a woman’s heart
Rots where tears and oceans start.
He who scorns a woman’s spirit
Loses his own birth within it.