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IGNOMINIUM

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Message Vi Ransel

Ignominium

What makes a hymen,
rather than a conscience,
the essence of virtue?
Why is ignorance,
rather than conscious integrity,
the emblem of honor?

Because man knows
he is a serial defiler,
and where man has not trod
he has not yet defiled,
since he seems driven
to debase
all of creation.

This membrane
serves as a veil, a symbol,
behind which the ignoble
may be perpetrated
in "good conscience",
since the Family of Man's honor
resides solely
between the legs
of "its" women.

That the victims
of rape are punished twice,
once by the rape
and ever thence for being capable
of being raped,
rips the veil off male "honor"
in a civilization
raised and ruled
by rapists.

What ignominious irony
that the insertion of the same
object
may be exquisitely pleasurable
or excruciatingly painful
and that man has always
opted
for the infliction of pain,
both physical and psychological.

And rather than patiently using
the power of pleasure
to seduce a willing partner,
since he cannot find
pleasure in pleasuring,
he seeks satisfaction solely
through the infliction of misery

on an unwilling, weaker
or unarmed victim,
whether animals, other cultures, women,
babies, boy or girl children,
making certain "victory" is pre-ordained
for which man accepts no shame
as long as honor remains
between the legs
of "his" women.

Or perhaps man is incapable
without the use of force,
and so refuses to cultivate the pleasure
within which context
a woman might say
of her own free choice
"Put it in."
But so fragile is his ego
he is unwillingly to try,
and even if he could
he wouldn't
lest it seem
that by giving
he is giving
in.

How shallow the depth
of such "strength"
that it refuses to coexist,
insisting on its own superiority,
and with this rationalization
imposes a Manifest Destiny (self-anointed).
This is not honor, ethics,
morals, intelligence or character,
but in reality merely
masculinity's caricature.

What self-loathing,
what defect of character,
what fantasies of inferiority
and sexual anxieties
exist within a being who chooses
to operate in this manner?

Perhaps one with the ego
of a two-year old tyrant,
exploding in rage
at merely the thought
of hearing the word "no",
imagining itself omnipotent,
refusing to accept
any rule
any limit
any boundary
on its immature behavior
and that same, childish ego caught
between reality and its fantasies
forcing the rest of the world
to live in its sand castles
which are, of course, imaginary.

Spoiled.
Self-absorbed.
Throwing a tantrum
because he can't have
and do everything he wants
when and how he wants it,
yet feeling entitled to take,
and taking for granted
the world is his sandbox
and its people his toys
to dispose of as he pleases
while he tries to master Earth
by means of murder
when he has not yet mastered
the tasks of growing up
and is, at best,
an eternal adolescent.

This dangerously insecure and unstable
bombastic, ego-swollen
bravado of buffoonery
is the impotent basis
upon which man's civilization
of rape is laid,
a self-aggrandizing pursuit
of self-esteem to offset
a limp set
of values,
none of which include
mercy or empathy,
justice or patience,
moral courage or integrity,
honesty or fair play.

This is not masculinity,
but its mockery,
that rejoices in conquering
where the outcome
is pre-ordained,
the narcissism of dominance
which stands in awe
of its reflection
in the broken mirror
of its victims' faces.

It takes a very small man to make himself
big by standing on someone else's neck.

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Vi Ransel Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

Vi's works appear widely both in print and online. She conducts Poetry Workshops and gives readings in Central New York. Her latest chapbook is "Sine Qua Non Antiques (an Arcanum of History, Geography and Treachery).
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