To Her

By Juzel Lloyd

"How would the world look with more female leaders?

Hedge fund managers with babies to breastfeed

Sister scientists churning out numbers

(Hidden Figures no longer hidden)

I want to see more hijabs in parliaments because their scarves don't mean silence . . .

• Language: English
• Publisher: New Degree Press
• Release date: Jul 16, 2022
• ISBN: 9798885042093

Book preview

Cover.jpg

New Degree Press

Copyright © 2022 Juzel Lloyd

All rights reserved.

To Her

ISBN

979-8-88504-098-3 Paperback

ISBN

979-8-88504-730-2 Kindle Ebook

ISBN

979-8-88504-209-3 Ebook

To all the women who raised me into the one I’m proud to be today.

Contents

Author’s Note

Part I. For the Quiet Ones

One Day My Body Grew Up Without Me

Hey, how you doin’ sweetheart?

I Said No

Rapists Aren’t Married

Surviving Tomorrow

Speak Up

Animal

Monologue—Women Like Us

Part II. Motherhood

Sometimes I Wish to Be Unborn

Always

Ode to Jo

PPD

Dear Fantasy

Give Me Your Body Before You Respond I

Give Me Your Body Before You Respond II

Part III. Existential

Monologue—Time

Alive

Last Will and Testament

Dear God I

Dear God II

Dear God III

Dear God IV

Part IV. Love and Loneliness

Mr. A

Monologue—Admission

Pandemic Blues

Hungry

Silent Pain

Soundtrack of My Life

Home Is Where There’s Sunshine and Ting

Part V. Lessons and Observations

In the Place You Never Look

They Will Find Out the Hard Way

Bars and Bodies

Dear Fake Feminists (You Know Yourselves)

Bitch

Monologue—Exhale

Letter to My Younger Self

Slow Down

Vintage

More Female Leaders

To All the Women I’ve Known

Acknowledgments

Author’s Note

Dear Reader,

Thank you for deciding to turn these pages. In a world where we can choose so easily to center our lives solely on our own, you have chosen to understand someone else’s life instead. The title already tells you that I will be addressing women and their stories for the majority of this book. Regardless of whether or not you’re female, you can still connect with the words among these pages. These poems were inspired by conversations I had with various women as well as my own life experiences so bear in mind that not all the voices are me speaking. With such a monumental task, I admit that I did not capture every experience I planned for, but I think I’ve gotten an interesting snapshot nonetheless. Overall, I wanted to