Object Lessons
Speaking as a woman, I always
wondered how half the sky did not fall
each time we were reduced
by someone feeling entitled. Each time
an unwanted hand landed on our breasts
or buttocks or pushed our bodies
into corners or on the ground,
taking liberties we did not offer.
Too often, we looked for rescue
but no one was there but us. We lost
our agency, our bearings, our power.
We were unseen, unheard, unrecorded.
Suddenly, our limbs and voices
could not be raised quickly enough
to do harm or raise alarms.
Or, even if we reacted, eyes were averted.
We were the original object lesson.
Silence was our expected language
as we cowered in closets and offices,
hotels and classrooms,
studios and chauffeured automobiles.
As if we were frozen like fossils
in amber awaiting future excavations
or colliding stars whose noise will only come later.
The recording of our tales
was not for the faint of heart.
That is if anyone had the time
or attention span to do so.
A few were bought off with cash
or opportunities or fear of reprisals.
Most pushed back memories into skull bone,
tried to layer over them with better times ahead.
We did not want the limelight of this history.
We had other plans for our days
before they were interrupted by patriarchy.
We did not offer up our bodies
for this cause. But now, here we all are,
propelled past panic, politeness and prayers.
Feel our force as we shout, stand up,
refuse to be moved. As we finally kick back.
Mary K. O'Melveny
Mary K. O'Melveny
Mary K. O’Melveny, a recently retired labor rights attorney, lives in Washington DC and Woodstock NY. Mary’s poetry has appeared in journals such as Allegro Poetry Magazine, GFT Press, The Flagler Review, The Write Place At The Write Time, The Offbeat and Into the Void, and blog sites such as “Writing in a Woman’s Voice” and “Women at Woodstock. Mary’s poem “Cease Fire” won the 2017 Raynes Poetry Competition sponsored by Jewish Currents Magazine and appears in the anthology “Borders and Boundaries” (Blue Threads Press 2017).
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Poetry