Trigger Warning- rape mention, trump mention
Where have you been?
What took you so long?
What were you doing when the bullets were fired?
Did you finally hear our mourning song?
We are grieving for choices we never had.
Where has their outrage gone?
Do you finally see?
That it is not enough to LOVE?
That it is not enough to HATE?
That indifference is violent
complacency is violent
non-violence is violent
That violence is a powerful tool of the oppressed
necessary to gain adequate attention and power
Violence is condemned by those who have the privilege of getting attention for their words
Here we are
Shouting
Listen!
You will NOT get away with it this time!
We thought we had come so far
Hate uncovered in the fiery storm.
A nation obsessed with politeness
Our country is a hypocrite
I was taught that my feelings are impolite
That speaking my truth is ‘oversharing’
That men’s brains wont register the pitch of my voice when I speak
So I have to yell and scream and say the same things twice
To have a man spit my words back at me
And he will be praised for it
He yells and whistles from his car as I walk home
But that’s not rude
‘Boys will be boys’
‘Men are pigs’
‘You were asking for it’
‘It doesn’t actually mean anything’
Can you imagine what it feels like to say
My rapist is president?
Maybe you can.
Because so many of us can say
He is an embodiment of my nightmare
Another white boy who thinks he deserves the world
Thinks any pussy is up for grabs.
I still jump when loud trucks go by
And when there’s a knock at the door
and when I watch the news
Because my nightmare became president of the united states
And it takes so much to get up everyday
And face your demons
When your demons suddenly think it’s okay to touch you again
When the example set by the president-elect
And every rapist in the news who is not brought to justice
Tells them they are safe to touch me
If they are have ‘professional promise’
Or too many drinks.
It takes so much
Power
Strength
CouRAGE
I RAGE for the broken
I pour my entire self into the fight
And some days my rage looks like taking a hot bath
Or remembering to take the time to eat breakfast
Or reading a chapter of a good book
Or watching another episode of a show that makes me laugh
When I saw a palm reader last August
She looked at my hand and gasped
!!
“How much longer will you be in this town honey”
When I said four more years
Her eyes filled with tears
“If I were you dear,
I would be on a plane
To somewhere far far from here”
It took three more months
but I RAN
I ran from and I ran to
And here I am
Not exactly sure what I’m supposed to do
Because you can run from your demons
But they’ll come with you
And you can put them in your back pocket
And distract yourself for a while
But on laundry day you have to take a look at them again
And decide where you’re going to keep them next
And when the load gets heavy enough
It will begin to wear on you
You might need help from someone else to deal with it at this point
And that’s okay
Ask for it.
I’m sorry you bear the burden of someone else’s poor choices
I’m sorry you have had to grow so much
I’m sorry you have been forced to have conversations with people who don’t believe you
I’m sorry you don’t feel welcome in the town you live in
I’m sorry that it feels like this is all on you. It shouldn’t be.
It’s okay to throw a tantrum.
It’s not fair
It’s not your fault.
The only thing I’m ‘asking for’ is help.
I’m just trying to live through this.
I love you.
“I Want a Dyke for President” by Zoe Leonard
When Survivors Give Birth by Penny Simkin
