Susan Hawthorne #332 catacumbas

always women are in hiding
Imperial Rome would-be-virgin-
martyrs created catacombs
in the soft tufa beneath Rome

in Buenos Aires when feminists met
they called their meetings catacumbas
refused funding and legal recognition
to ensure independence from the state

women gather underground in one
another's houses cafes bars
even in plain sight where secrets
are passed mouth to mouth