Hard Time, by C. Denney, July 17, 2013

I’ve done hard time
in rooms full of men
debating about politics
debating about history
fencing clumsily with
open books
pummeling each other
with obscure references
eager to impress the room
with their mastery
of world history
of national politics
in room after room
year after year
quotation after quotation
voices raised
podiums pounded
and room after room
and year after year
I cannot help but notice
that it changes nothing
that it teaches no one
and that nearby
in another room
a woman sings to a baby
a woman cooks for a gathering
a woman silently sews
the buttons back on