And If It's a Girl

A spoken word, media-rich poem by award-winning poet Ana Maria Caballero, visually interpreted by Venezuelan artist May Toyo. From Caballero's chapbook MID-LIFE, this poem explores the overwhelming societal pressures placed on women. Toyo's accompanying drawing of a curled-up woman adds subtle depth to the words of the poem. Ana Maria Caballero's writing has won the Beverly International Prize for Literature, Colombia's José Miguel Arango National Poetry Prize, been nominated for a Pushcart Prize + been a finalist for the Academy of American Poets Prize. May Toyo is a Venezuelan multidisciplinary artist who creates vivid emotional portraits via gesture and color. -- And If It’s a Girl Must I teach her this life Of precision within And democracy throughout Must I scrub her face with the rules Of biology and skin Of ambition and kid Must she learn the empty errand look Reign in a fucking passion for shoes Gorge air digest age Must she commit to perfume Paint her mouth into a button Wield a plot to dress a room And once the future is within her womb Will she, too, think it easier to house Another boy belly balloon