An Inconvenient Woman

Brutally honest, outspoken and fearless
Goes with their gut, never favors appearance
'Cause who has time for vanity
With opponents to extinguish?
And don't you think that hint
Of silver hairline is distinguished?
In men, all these qualities
They make you a genius
But if you're a woman
You're an inconvenience

So he storms through the halls and
He tracks down his boss
Two years in this office he's battled across
A media major, he's craving the glory
Bursts into a meeting, demands better stories
The newsroom head is delighted, you must know
"Now that's how you do it!
Just show me some gusto!"
And four feet away, in department store heels
Is his colleague, Sarah
She fights back her tears
'Cause she chased him down
Every Friday in winter
Three years in this office
Plus two as an intern
And when she requested some
Tasks with more substance
He glanced at his phone and responded
Disgusted "Please lower your voice
And how dare you approach me
Really, your tact could afford
You some coaching
You're acting so crazy!" His
Tone was defeating "And have some respect
I'll be late for my meeting
You're being inconvenient"
It's 7 PM and her husband's arriving
She fires the stove and just stares
Though she's trying it's been a few days and
She slept on the couch
Depression has stolen the smile
From her mouth he walks in, he's angry
And he asks about dinner
"But couldn't we just order in
" she considers he stares with a vacant
And displeased expression
"So why do we pay for these therapy sessions?
If you can't be decent and take a damn shower
You won't ever fuck me
You're crying for hours
When I first ever met you
I loved all your crazy
You stayed up all night and
You dressed like a lady
You fucked like a rabbit
You loved it back then
But now you're this lump of a mess in my den"
He stormed out the room and
She folded his tie
She first bought it for him
When his father had died
He slept in for days and
He missed weeks of work
So she took up some supplement
Shifts as a nurse
She never complained, though
She made it a promise
But she liked her manic self, too
To be honest
She wished that her crazy was sexy and fun
Too but depression snuck up and
She started to undo
Why can't she just man up
And act like a wife? She vowed to a man that
She'd serve him for life
She really doesn't mean to be so inconvenient
So let's cut to a woman
Who's lived out a miracle
Made it through life being
Less than agreeable
She's running for office but battles a bias
So to fix it
She's hired the best team of stylists
They try her in pantsuit's
And skirts tailored perfect
She stares at the mirror and
Bleeds through it's surface
"But why do I need to look pretty to be seen?
I'm far better qualified and
He's just plain mean"
While he's loud and he's touting
A hot wife to gloat so you know that'll earn
Him the working-class vote
They think that you're old and
The polls all reveal
That they really won't like you
With no sex appeal it's not really fair
But it's just how things are done
So she pinches her wrinkling
Skin in her thumb
And thinks, isn't this just inconvenient?

A couple meanders through
Sunday brunch tables
They pick up some coffee
And inspect the bagels
Somebody approaches an after-church service
Immediately our young wife becomes nervous
She asks if they're planning
On having a child she looks at her feet and
Her manner grows mild
"She's trans but that's none
Of your business here, lady"
She doesn't want kids but
The subject of babies
It makes her get anxious
She knows that she's valid
But her belly's not carrying much
More than a salad
Her husband, defensive, he rubs on her arms
Politely replies, it's just not in our cards
The churchgoer's rude and refers
To the sermon
"No children? Well that's just a
Waste of a woman"
She relays this story to friends over wine
And they tell her that not
Wanting children is fine
She says, "Well if you wanted
You could carry your own"
But she doesn't know all
Their stories at home
Cause some of them spend their
Nights cursing their wombs
Over handfuls of pregnancies ended too soon
But before they can say they feel inadequate
Too
A fight erupts down in the back of the room
A black woman storms through the
Bar in her apron it seems she's in trouble
For slapping a patron
He put both his hands on
Her backside and squeezed he said
"White women really don't got
'em like these!" her boss is irate and he
Tells her she's let go
"Why can't you behave, yo'
You're acting so ghetto"
She tried to defend herself only to find
A black woman's anger is never in line
Aren't all these women just so inconvenient?
Ever since the march I've been
Asked to write poems
But irony proves to be just ever-growin'
I'm asked to address how to be "inconvenient"
But before I can speak
First they want me to screen it
They're scared that I'll freak out
And do something wild!
But censorship really just isn't my style
Some even suggested that they
Write the speech but how could they say that
They do what they preach?
With all due respect to these media teams
I don't get on a stage and
Not say what I mean
So, sorry to Glamour for cursing too often
But I've never really been the
Type that would soften
A message I'm passionate about in my bones
So, if you're offended, and viewing at home
I'm here to say that I'm not sorry
For being inconvenient
You were not put on this earth
To make everybody else's life easier
So please, be inconvenient