LJ Idol 10 - Week 8: No Comment

		nevertheless, she persisted

she spoke the words of our predecessor 
	and she was told to be silent
		she was told to sit down
			she was told, implicitly, that her words do not matter

but his bid to silence her failed, explicitly
and, damn, her words matter 

she followed his rules
	she shut her mouth
	but only in his presence 
		and only for a short time
	she spoke the words she was told not to
	she stood outside his door and she spoke the words of her foremother
				and herself
	
Liz spoke the words of Coretta

it turns out that we’ve been warned 
					twice
about racism
about the nominee for attorney general
about how those two intersect in a venn diagram that looks like a single circle

and after she was silenced on the senate floor
       after she was told to hush now, little girl
	men spoke 
		reading from the same letter
		reading the same words that were used to silence her
	men spoke and were not warned of reprimand
	men spoke and did not have things “explained” to them

	men spoke after a woman was silenced

and i’m told we don’t need feminism anymore

i have one thing to say to that:

	no comment