First it was our bodies

First it was our bodies
you tried to control.
We own you, we can touch you,
you are less than us. When you walk by,
we can jeer at you, stone you, hit you.

Next it was our voices you tried to control.
When we spoke out against injustice,
violations. We spoke to heal, to protect others from the same fate.
People do not like to see what’s ugly.
She’s crazy, they said. Hysteria, histrionics, women’s fever.
You don’t seem to recognize the sound of truth.

Lastly it was our rights you tried to control.
You can’t vote, you can’t drive, you have no rights over
what happens to your body.
What does an old white man know about
how a woman should cover her face,
an unwanted pregnancy,
a child she cannot support.
Do not interfere with matters you do not understand.

Why all the control?
What are you so afraid of?
That our power is so much more than you’ll ever be?
Can you not handle the mysteries of a woman,
that you seek to control her rather than to know her?
You play your sad game, while our power shakes the earth.