come on down to the Mermaid Cafe

                                             Supreme Court Nomination Hearings, 2018
                                          (for Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Dr. Anita Hill)			


one word in front of another
				she speaks
one breath after another
				she breathes

and i thank her for going on when the world is so terrible to women
								our country so terrible to her

we have been sidelined for so much of history
	a side note in the textbooks, a pillar of salt
	wives and mistresses
	virgin sacrifices
	minor characters
	
and here we are
	screaming the names of our rapists
	writing the actions of our abusers
			those who try and fail 
to keep us in the mud
					without realizing that we want the muck to be seen
						we need the secrets to come out
							to pour from our mouths 
						like sudden light in a dark room
							these men flee for cover like cockroaches
						using words and anger as sword and shield

one word in front of another
	you cannot rule in perpetuity
		we are here and we are beyond anger
			we are done with playing the part of lesser
				of being seen as yours to do with as you please
	
one foot in front of the other
	one breath after another
		more women speaking truth to power 
			we will continue forward
			day after day
			night after night
		we won’t give up our voices 	
				    our rights
				    ourselves

you cannot beat us because we keep getting the fuck up
	and we are done with being held down

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And as is my habit, here is a video of the poem being read by me:




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