Twenty eight years ago, on June 23, 1993, Lorena Bobbitt had had enough. Having endured her husband's rape and abuse for four years, she used an 8-inch carving knife to cut off his penis, then left in her car and threw the severed appendage into a field.
I admire her nerve.
To commemorate that day, this poem by Lucille Clifton. I laugh every time I read it.
Lorena
Woman cuts off husband’s penis,
later throws it from car window.
— News Report
it lay in my palm soft and trembled
as a new bird and i thought about
authority and how it always insisted
on itself, how it was master
of the man, how it measured him, never
was ignored or denied, and how it promised
there would be sweetness if it was obeyed
just like the saints do, like the angels
and i opened the window and held out my
uncupped hand; i swear to god
i thought it could fly
About Susan Edsall
Writing is how I make my way through the thicket of what we’ve made of this planet we’re on. It takes me a long time and lots of words. Social media mystifies me. How do so many people have so much to say, so quickly, and with such resolute certainty? Read more about Susan >
