Dilantha Gunawardana: ‘Definition of Modern Woman’

Definition of Modern Woman

It’s not about chastity belts
or pledges of perennially-crossed legs.

It’s not about how big the pom-poms
on her chest are, that cheer on anatomy lessons.

Nor is it about the hemlines—the maxi and the mini—
that lift effortlessly to Aeolus’s pouts.

It’s all about how she welds adamantine
into her heart walls and still seals it with jello.

And she needs to know
she can be anything she wants to be
paint her heart with any color
any flavor, even the sweetness of fruit sugar.

And she owns every muscle, tendon,
ligament or sheath that defines her. A body
that needs no levies to exist;

Like a battered cheek, moisture-prone eyes
compulsive immodesty,

Or even for that matter, Love.

Dilantha Gunawardana