X-ing out lives
Janet Kuypers
7/19/22
A male misogynistic coworker,
An “I’ll make the money while
She raises my kids in my house”
Kind of guy
Knew a woman from out of state
In a really abusive relationship, after
She discovered she was pregnant
(from a boyfriend who terrified her,
Refusing to wear a condom, would say
She’s stupid enough to get pregnant).
She had to terminate the pregnancy
Before the boyfriend found out,
So this male misogynistic coworker
Asked if she could stay at our home
For a few days while recovering.
Of course, she could. And of course,
We would... We welcomed her, gave her
Whatever space she needed
To physically and mentally recover.
It broke our heart when she felt bad
That she bled — don’t worry about that,
Worry about you. And it broke my heart
That ‘me the stranger’ couldn’t just
Wrap my arms around her and tell her
Everything would be okay. But the
One thing we did notice about our
Male misogynistic coworker is that
After he helped her, after he saw
What being a male misogynist could do,
How it could break a human being so,
He began to understand the potential
Error of his ways. He was changed,
And I am woe to say it only came
After seeing the culmination of
x-ing out lives that changed him.
#
Whose life was worth x-ing out,
People ask, and this is the balancing
Act we all perform. For this one man,
Maybe the true fear of one woman,
Her fear of being x-ed out by man,
Meant it was necessary for her to
X-out something before it became life.
Karma works in funny ways, where
One woman is almost destroyed
So a man could see salvation.
You’re heard the references before,
A butterfly flaps its wings in Tibet
And a rainforest burns in Brazil... Or
After one woman is raped, she learns
To make life better for all women.
Maybe I saw that here, in my no-
Longer misogynistic man, for him
To see the light, as it were, and
Truly understand which lives
Were really worth saving.
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