lost petition: for an endangered species


where are you my wild women on
the brink of brutish but upholding
a close upkeep of grace & beauty,
growing taller than those old bones,
swelling & singing deeper than you
ever thought possible, does that
dark man visit your dreams, breathe
down your neck, sayin’ hey lady you'd
better pay attention, i told him last
night that i crossed that sacred,
shallow river seven times, he said
woman, do it slower next time, you
gotta be silent to hear the crackle
of the fire, i said that i've seen too
many fingers go quick to lips, that my
flames burn on the inside & they're not
hard to miss, that our submissiveness
has been the cement holding together
our mother’s mismanagement & it's
his mess that bloats all our hearts,
popping red balloons too heavy to
float, we have held in our tender
hands the same hopes & worries
of our mothers & their mothers &...
our minds have caged the same bird
too many times over, so i will not go
gentle into this night & when i open
my eyes your ghost will not guide
me to my death because i run with
a pack of wolves, we meet our men
halfway speaking the same language,
we roll around in our rusty double
beds, mama & papas of god shouting
thunder, spitting lightning, so don't
you tell me that silence is golden,
our hands have been in our pockets
cupping loose change & lost buttons
for far too many years now, so this
is my call, my plea, my appeal, where
are you my wild-wild women, let’s
meet our men in the middle & show
the world what it means to be
free

~Amanda Oaks

www.kindovermatter.com

Painting by Elisabeth Slettnes

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