Your Favorite Poems

Fancy · 04-23-2013, 07:57 AM

RISING
Written in Kerala for the women of India who lead the way

This could have been anywhere
And was
Mexico City
Manila
Mumbai
Manhattan
Nighttime men
waiting
like wolves
Drooling
for prey
behind
that single dimly painted door
paying nothing
a couple of dollars
or euros
rupees
or pesos
to have her
Enter her
Eat her
Devour her
and throw away her bones.

This could have been anywhere
And was
A Buddhist nun on a bus
Trying to stay dry for the night
A woman leader speaking out against
The repressive government
A young woman traveling with her boyfriend
One lost her voice
The other her following
The last one her life

This could have been anywhere and was
Pink wooden crosses
A stack of stones
Red wilting carnations
Empty chairs in a square
Ribbons flying in a sultry wind
I ask Anna Nighat Kamla Monique Tanisha Emily
Why Why
Porque Eran Mujeres
Parce qu'elles étaient des femmes
Because they were women
Because they were women

This could have been anywhere
And was
Where she got fired for being too beautiful
Fined for drinking after she was raped
A serious offer to marry her rapist
Got told it was legitimate but not forcible
This could have been anywhere
They do such a thing
When the girls go for fire wood
Step into the lonely man’s car
Drink a little too much at the college party
Wake up with her uncle’s fingers inside
Run from the screaming machete and guns
Be taken at sunrise
Get a bullet in the brain for learning the alphabet
Be stoned for falling in love
Be burned for seeing the future

I am done
Cataloguing these horrors
Data Porn
2 million women raped and tortured
1 out of 3 women
a woman raped every minute
every second
one out of 2
one out of 5
the same
one
one
one
I am done counting
And recounting

Its time to tell a new story
It needs to be our story
It needs to be outrageous and unexpected
It needs to lose control in the middle
It needs to be sexy and in our hips
And our feet
It needs to be angry and a little scary the way storms can be scary
It needs to not ask permission
Or get permits or set up offices
Or make salaries
It wont be recorded or bought or sold
Or counted
It needs to just happen
It is not a question of inventing
But remembering
Buried under the leaves of trauma and sorrow
Beneath the river of
semen and squalor
vaginas and labias
shredded and extracted
stolen
body mines
mined bodies
It is not about asking now
Or waiting
It is about rising

Raise your arm my sister my brother
Raise your one
Billion
Your one heart
Your one of us

I used to be afraid of love
It hurt too much
What never happened
What got ripped away
The rape
The wound
And love
I thought
was salt
But I was wrong
I was wrong

Step into the fire

Raise your arm
Raise your one
Billion
One
One
One
Rising.
Rising.
Rising.

Eve Ensler for One Billion Rising

04-23-2013, 07:57 AM	#15
Fancy Senior Member How Do You Identify?: Femme Preferred Pronoun?: She Relationship Status: N/A Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: NY Posts: 3,742 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 7,696 Thanked 7,083 Times in 2,318 Posts Rep Power: 21474854	Rising by Eve Ensler RISING Written in Kerala for the women of India who lead the way This could have been anywhere And was Mexico City Manila Mumbai Manhattan Nighttime men waiting like wolves Drooling for prey behind that single dimly painted door paying nothing a couple of dollars or euros rupees or pesos to have her Enter her Eat her Devour her and throw away her bones. This could have been anywhere And was A Buddhist nun on a bus Trying to stay dry for the night A woman leader speaking out against The repressive government A young woman traveling with her boyfriend One lost her voice The other her following The last one her life This could have been anywhere and was Pink wooden crosses A stack of stones Red wilting carnations Empty chairs in a square Ribbons flying in a sultry wind I ask Anna Nighat Kamla Monique Tanisha Emily Why Why Porque Eran Mujeres Parce qu'elles étaient des femmes Because they were women Because they were women This could have been anywhere And was Where she got fired for being too beautiful Fined for drinking after she was raped A serious offer to marry her rapist Got told it was legitimate but not forcible This could have been anywhere They do such a thing When the girls go for fire wood Step into the lonely man’s car Drink a little too much at the college party Wake up with her uncle’s fingers inside Run from the screaming machete and guns Be taken at sunrise Get a bullet in the brain for learning the alphabet Be stoned for falling in love Be burned for seeing the future I am done Cataloguing these horrors Data Porn 2 million women raped and tortured 1 out of 3 women a woman raped every minute every second one out of 2 one out of 5 the same one one one I am done counting And recounting Its time to tell a new story It needs to be our story It needs to be outrageous and unexpected It needs to lose control in the middle It needs to be sexy and in our hips And our feet It needs to be angry and a little scary the way storms can be scary It needs to not ask permission Or get permits or set up offices Or make salaries It wont be recorded or bought or sold Or counted It needs to just happen It is not a question of inventing But remembering Buried under the leaves of trauma and sorrow Beneath the river of semen and squalor vaginas and labias shredded and extracted stolen body mines mined bodies It is not about asking now Or waiting It is about rising Raise your arm my sister my brother Raise your one Billion Your one heart Your one of us I used to be afraid of love It hurt too much What never happened What got ripped away The rape The wound And love I thought was salt But I was wrong I was wrong Step into the fire Raise your arm Raise your one Billion One One One Rising. Rising. Rising. Eve Ensler for One Billion Rising