Sunday, March 17, 2019

day SEVEN HUNDRED and EIGHTY SEVEN


A Woman Should Know the Origins of the Witch Hunt

It is whispered in circles
from mother to daughter
from sister to sister.

It is told how these women
were practitioners
midwives
doctors
nutritionists,

but above all
they were outliers,
women living just outside the circle
of men with power
just outside
their trust.
This made them easy to blame.

And that is how they get you,
how they sniff you out,
string you up,
set you on fire.

Stay inside, we tell our daughters,
stay close to the men with power
remember that if you are too defiant
the torches will light themselves.
Stay close but not too close

because as
every mother warns
every sister cautions,
tread lightly

What was true then is true now,
the biggest threat to women’s lives
has been and will always be
men.

--Ally Malinenko

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