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.
+
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
