The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

A Woman’s Perpetual Battle 
by Erin Sweet Al-Mehairi 

She’s immersed in water, floating;
Seeping pain slowly, her mind
Playing ominous tricks while her
Fingers gently push lily pads and
Her soul wanders (wonders).

Women are beautiful you see but
Only when just beautiful, when
Lovely, when quiet, when demure.
Only beautiful as a petal encased
In ice, only lovely when polite, only quiet
Because if not they are heathen, only
Demure to make men smile (sneer).

And aren’t we only here to make men
Boast, aren’t we devoid of brain and
Only fulfilling of soft flesh for relief,
Only worth serving for other’s means.

We learn to become numb; we learn.

We do. (Grind teeth)

Floating out to ocean now, tendrils of her
Hair surrounding her portraiture –
Lady of the lake, maven of the past,
Goddess we call on, cling to, scream to,

We are more!
We are so much more!
Band together our strength!
Hear us still!!

We will not quit or give in,
Our gift is our bravery.
We collect stones and build,
We know our innate worth. 

Our gift is our steady fortitude,
United together we push, we fight.
The seas proclaim our esteem,
Our bond made is our shield wall.

And she swims now, to the shore;
She swims to face the day, to show
Her divine feminine elements to the
Cause. To be a light to all women.

.

Fiction © Copyright Erin Sweet Al-Mehairi
Fiction Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

More about Erin Sweet Al-Mehairi:

Erin Sweet Al-Mehairi is an author, editor, journalist, and publicist with thirty years of experience in communication fields and Bachelor of Arts degrees in English, Journalism, and History.

Breathe. Breathe. was her debut collection of dark poetry and short stories in 2017. She has poetry and short stories published in several anthologies and online, and was co-editor of a half-fiction, half-poetry Gothic anthology. She’s currently compiling and writing several poetry collections, an essay collection, a short story collection, and a novel.

She is a chronic pain warrior, the mother of three humans and several spoiled rescue cats, and while born in England, now lives in a forest in Ohio while managing her editing, writing, and PR business.

Find Erin at her website Hook of a Book or on most social media platforms.