Prayer to the Pyre

In the end, the world, the moon,

the tides,

always begins with women.

Their secrets, their

sacrilege, their strength.

 

So we march & we fight & we write

& we yell until we can only whisper,

We whisper until we are gasping for air,

choking on our victory.

Because our power has always been in

our quiet,

 

In our continuous, indestructible resolve,

Refusal to surrender, our hushed mobilization,

The blood oaths spilling across the sea,

Fields where we plant our promises

The seeds of our daughters

Zeus may rule the rain that feeds,

 

but Gaia will let them grow

Demeter will show them how to share,

To dive into the current of sisterhood,

Aphrodite will teach them how to take,

To defend their bodies and identities,

To conquer with barbaric grace, each arrow

A merciless scythe across the sky.

 

Because this is who I choose to love, and

she is beautiful. & we are valid.

Because this land stands upon dreams

that don’t belong to its roots,

suffocating black and brown bodies

By the millions by the centuries--

the necrosis of gentrification,

the slaughter of industrial incarceration,

the brutality of a free nation

built upon hypocrisy.

 

Oh Athena, teach me

how to shatter--

To sharpen my pen and swords and

sink my teeth into the rotten earth. To

seize until my hands are bloody and

broken and Triumphant. I am a woman:

I will never let go.

 

Just because our power has always been in

our quiet,

 

do not mistake it for silence.

 

 

Photo is a reproduction of Gustav Klimt's "The Kiss" in Syria by Tammam Azzam

This poem is about: 
Me
My community
My country
Our world

Comments

Tamrha Gatti Richardson

This is gorgeous! May I read this, with credit at a Plannedc Parenthood rally??

chasingenigmas

Thank you so much! And YES, of course!!! I've made some changes to this poem, it's up to you whether you want to add them. And is there any way I can view this reading? 

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