`The Secretary Chant` Poem

Submitted by

JESSICA MEDINA

Class / Date / Time

English 1102 / Saturday / 9 a .m . to 12

.m

Date of Submission

3 March 2009

Submitted To

D . NORMAN

THE SECRETARY CHANT

By Marge Piercy

My hips are a desk

From my ears hang

chains of clips

Rubber bands form my hair

My breasts are quills of mimeograph ink

My feet bear casters

Buzz . Click

My head

is a badly organized

My head is a switchboard

where crossed lines crackle

My

head is a wastebasket

of worn ideas

Press my fingers

and in my eyes appear

credit and debit

Zing . Tinkle

My navel is a reject button

From my mouth issue canceled reams

Swollen , heavy , rectangular

I am about to be delivered

of a baby

Xerox machine

me under W

because I once

was

a woman

The Secretary Chant , written by Marge Piercy , speaks about a female secretary who compares herself to a myriad of office supplies and gadgetry , in effect saying that she is viewed more as a piece of equipment rather than a person . While the narrator mentions specific body parts , the emphasis is on the object to which the body part is associated with . Using everything from the most mundane office supplies to complex tasks , the narrator covers plenty of ground to show how misconstrued people of her profession are

My hips are a desk (line 1

Desks , for most of the time , occupies the most space in an office , just as the hips are when...