I want to be a Monstrous Woman

To speak out of turn

To take up space

To scandalise tabloid newspapers

 

I want to question authority

To win more fights than I lose

To take my fair share

And allow you to take yours too

 

I want never to apologise for myself again

I want to be a Monstrous Woman

To stop expecting less

To give voice to the voiceless

And make space for all my sisters

 

I want to shatter your expectations

Build bridges instead of walls

Stop accepting the blame

And do something about it

 

I want you to make your own God damn sandwich

 

I want to be a Monstrous Woman

To reclaim the streets and my own body

To live unhindered by guilt

And stop reading those glossy magazines

 

I want to be out of control

A force to be reckoned with

To disturb the comfortable

And comfort the disturbed

 

I want the word ‘ladylike’ to fuck off back to the nineteenth century where it belongs

 

I want to be a Monstrous Woman

To be angry and ugly

Aggressive and antagonistic

I want you to see that life is not a zero-sum game

 

I want to pull down the scaffolding

And start afresh

To charge the barricades and

Peel back the dead flesh

 

I want show you how things could be.

 

I want to be a Monstrous Woman

Who’s with me?

 

 

Leanne Moden 001

 Leanne Moden is a poet from Nottingham. She’s performed at events around Europe, including Prima Vista in Estonia and Día Mundial de la Poesía in Spain. Leanne has also performed at various UK festivals including WOMAD, Edinburgh Fringe, Aldeburgh Poetry Festival, Fourth Wave Feminist Festival, and Bestival on the Isle of Wight.