Women Have No Last Name
by Lizzy Poole

Blame Eleanor of Aquitaine,
Blame Catherine the Great.
Blame Egyptians, early Greeks,
Blame the first one, Eve.

If she had brains as well as beauty,
stamped her foot atop Troy's wall,
She'd said, "I'm Helen Prized
and my daughters' daughters' daughters
shall be Prized;
and my sons shall be Prized
until they marry!"

If she had judged as well as jeweled,
She'd said, "I'm Catherine Prussia
or Catherine Petersburg-now-Leningrad
or Catherine Naughty
and my daughters' daughters' daughters
shall be Naughty;
and my sons shall be Naughty
'til they marry."

If Eve, upon the first bite,
had finished the whole thing,
"Eve and Adam Eden" would have started right there
and their daughters' daughters' daughters ...
might have shared the name
with the sons.

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