8/30 Space

the world is not a safe space
never has been
           never will be

ask Afghanistan
ask the homeless
ask the countless missing women
no one is looking for

in thought it makes sense
it has no place in reality
no one person has the answers
so we are stuck in those places
where stuck things live
were memory fails
and history pretends it never happened

i remember a dream that wasn't a dream
a brown body on a stage
a brown body in my arms
sobbing and confused
how their community
could turn it's back so loudly
shut their voice off
them shaking
my shirt soggy
nothing there was safe
not even the fabric

there was a time i made a statement
it was mine
i born it myself
believing because it was mine
it would hold me
then someone stuck their fingers into my story
made me all about them
said it was OK
said they were right
because even being my own bones
wasn't safe for me
or them
so they drag their neanderthal thoughts
blamed me for their privilege
they felt safe in their convictions until the next time
when they make some other vagina their own

i suppose you could wrap it
surround it with something impenetrable
bomb proof it
bullet proof it
take it away from those who harm
if we all decide who that is
but it has to be the same who
cover it in plastic
make it safe
no longer a problem for anyone
or anything
because everything is safe
when it is dead

14/30 Consent (the remix)

I am not your lucky

not your blarney stone

or rabbits foot

I will not set you free by touching me

or any part of my body

I am listening to you lament about consent

how no man has the right to touch any part of a woman

or approach her like it is his duty

and I am calling so much bullshit in my head

because not an hour ago you approached me

a smile on your face

reached up and touched me without my consent

or permission

so not only do you not practice what you preach

you have no business in the pulpit

no business selling your snake oil

because you are just as guilty of the crime

you know so much about

you commit it yourself

my brother once said to me that becoming a lawyer

can make you a perfect criminal

you tell me you are an ally how you will stand for me,

in front of me if need be

and that is exactly the wrong thing

you speak of respecting people of color

but the boundaries that exist

do not seem to apply to me

your hair is so pretty you say

reaching without asking

touching without permission

when I step away you look put-off

tell me you were just honoring my style

then 

or is it because I’m white

It is not because you are white

it is because my body doesn’t belong to you

and you seem to believe that only

men can objectify women

only men need to ask for consent

every consensual lover I have ever had

can touch my body to their hearts desire

hair included

a mutual understanding

and believe it or not some of those lovers are white

so it’s not about race

it is about respect

it is about practicing what you preach

penis or not

when you touch me without my permission

you do not have consent

and yes, that includes

your lame ass excuse

about honoring my hair