Eight March 2017

Home-time traffic blares its way
on Flinders as I wait at the
crossroads for the signal.
The pointy red debutante

switches; she steps forward
swinging her arms, her green
A-line skirt just to her knees –
unconscious bias laid bare.

Go! she says Now is the time.
Act! No more waiting. No more
waiting for the green man.
No more asking Daddy!

Inspired by Gloria Steinem, Washington, DC, 21 January 2017.

Rosa O’Kane

 

Rosa O’Kane grew up in Northern Ireland and now lives in Canberra. She has had poems published on a bus, in print and online. Her poem ‘Hydrography of The Heart’ was a commended poem for the Hippocrates Prize 2014. ‘Paperbark Daughter’ was published in The Canberra Times in 2017.

© 2017