Resolution

Nellie Wong

Lucy Liu kicks butt in "Charlie's Angels,"
And there's Michelle Yeoh
in "Super Cop 2," her quiet fury
taking care of herself
and the Hong Kong cops
who try to be chivalrous
thinking this petite woman
needs a man's protection
because she's that, a petite woman,
But watch out! Women are signing
up for martial arts classes, learning
discipline, respecting their bodies,
unleashing their minds to say "hands off!"
through their eyes and throats
to abuse, wandering hands, domestic violence
Perhaps Hollywood, for once,
gives us fighting women
who fly from the ground
to rooftops and ricochet off walls
Perhaps Hong Kong's treatment
of women in film reflects feminism
of a kind that Hollywood emulates
Perhaps it is not too much to imagine
that being physical is just as important
as being intelligent,
that the 100-year-practice
of foot binding was a terrible prelude
to all this kicking and chopping,
this resolution roaring
in women now

c.2001