The Soul of a Poet

I have been feeling stuck. Some part of it may be because we are down to one car due to the other needing a new transmission. I have been in the house a lot this week. But it is more than the need for human interaction. (A toddler barely qualifies for human. I think he is part monster.) I feel as if I am wading through molasses this month. For a while now, things have been progressing. Spring brings vitality and fertility. It is a new beginning and we can witness it just by looking outdoors; flowers are blooming and trees are sprouting leaves. But I feel like I am not moving forward.

I have thought it might be that I am spending too much time reading stuff online. It saddens me to see how our country and our government has been hi-jacked by crazies. Of course, not all are crazies, but the media covers so many of them that it becomes difficult to believe there are politicians who have common sense or fully understand the underlying beliefs this country has shaped for itself. And many of the fights we have to now engage in were won decades ago. And this fight I speak about is Women’s right over her own body. I am not talking about abortion, I am talking about our bodies. In Mississippi, there is a woman who was arrested for manslaughter because her child was still-born. In Virginia, the GOP has recommended a candidate for attorney general who tried to pass state legislation which would have required a woman who had a miscarriage to report it to the police within 24 hours. In addition, the police or medical examiner would have to authorize the disposal of the remains. Violation would have been a class 1 misdemeanor. There have been more than 400 documented cases in the US in which women were arrested or detained for a miscarriage or stillbirth.  It is laws such as these and politicians create who them which inherently say that a  woman can not be in control of her body and if the body does not perform in a prescribed way, it must be criminal. Bodies do not work that way.

I feel I am stuck because as a society we are stuck. I feel I am stuck because as a woman I am stuck. I am dumbfounded at the complete lack of intellectual discussion in our elected halls of government on the right to privacy (women’s bodies), medical knowledge and law. I am beginning to feel I am a criminal in my fellow citizens eyes if I want to control my menstrual cycle or make decisions which are in my and my families best interest about a pregnancy or if my own body chooses to make the decision for me. Women are not criminals just because they have a female body.

I do understand it is all about power. Most of the politicians who are creating and passing this type of legislation are men. For some reason, men have once again become scared of the sacred vagina and its magical power to birth life. The religiosity of some segments of our population have become frightened of the rise of women in general. Therefore, the answer is more women in power. There needs to be a force to combat the ridiculous  extreme views on women. And who knows women’s issues better than women?

I wrote a poem in 1994 which I feel illustrates our apathy as a society. I was writing a paper on political apathy for my Political Theory class at the time. I feel these goof balls have mostly been elected into office because of our nations political ignorance. And our ignorance stems from apathy.

What is this world we live in with its majestic towers of white?

Dusty winds of wetness and chilling tales of fright.

Crimson snow would work better to relate the underlying theme.

It would surely wake us from societies sleep induced dream.

Yet, we close our eyes and picture the world in which we believe

has no violence or hunger or a soul that anguishly grieves.

The world has taken notice of our sleep encrusted eyes.

We drown ourselves in blindness and continue to believe the lies.

A wake up call is what we need and crimson snow would do.

A shock to society to rip the blinders from you.