Illustration by Diana Bwengye for the poem "Loose" by Daphine Arinda

…In the poem “Loose”, Daphine Arinda satirises the term used to describe women who are comfortable expressing their sexual desires. A woman who dresses sexy, dances wildly, enjoys sexual encounters is labelled “loose”. She is more of a threat because she does this for herself. Arinda claims this word for a positive use, aligning it to its other meaning, one akin to freedom. The woman in this poem becomes one who is free to enjoy her sexuality, saying, “But dignity and self-respect are MINE/ mine to lose.”… Read the full intro here.

LOOSE  

I live loosely  
Mind open  
Heart open  
I have no rules   
On how to love  
Who to love  
What to write  
What to hide  
How to dance  
With whom to dance.   

At the bar  I choose men loosely  
Men whose faces I forget  
Men whose numbers I erase  
Men whose rhythm I’ll recall  

Can his feet follow the beat?  
Can his ribs break off his back?  

I’ll rub up his crotch  
Touch his chest  
We’ll loosely share our bodies in dance.   

I am loose.  

I am not a box of stone  

I am loose  

I write loosely  
I dance loosely  
I love loosely 

I’m smoke, smoldering at the stick’s end in the dark night.   
I’m wings, reaching for the sky with each puff  I am free.  

  “She’s loose  
   She’s loose   
   She’s loose….”     

Whispers like the wind will pass  
But dignity and self-respect are MINE,  
Mine to lose not a man’s to take.