I.
A qualified woman
Becomes a
Candidate
Designated to break
Every barrier.
Full of
Great
Hopes,
It feels
Justly
Karmic –
Lengthening years of
Mysogyny
No longer
Overwhelming us.
Patriarchy
Quietly,
Righteously
Shifting away,
Taking
Up space only in
Very old history books
Which people will study
eXtra carefully, especially
Young women
Zealous to know their pasts.
II.
A
Boorish
Clown
Defeats her.
Enters the stage
Frightening
Girls and women with
Hate-filled
Invective,
Justifying
Kingdoms and Klansmen.
Laughing and leering at
Menstrual cycles.
Never apologizing for
Ogling and groping.
Preening and prattling.
Questioning facts.
Refusing reason.
Screaming for headlines.
Taking
Umbridge even in
Victory.
What choice do we have
eXcept resistance?
Yielding nothing. Until he is
Zero.
Washington DC
01-15-17
This poem was first published by the Writing in a Woman's Voice blog in 2016
http://writinginawomansvoice.blogspot.com
Mary read it at a poetry event in DC at Bus Boys and Poets in January, 2016 which sponsored by the activist group "Split This Rock."