the women are not alright
we are bleeding out slowly
sacrificed at the alters
of familial love and
corporate subjugation
bandaging ourselves
with false platitudes
serotonin in a bottle
intoxicated disconnect
and I’m here to tell you
the women are not alright
we have stripped ourselves
rolled back our own progress
adapted and reshaped
our lives and our loves
the pivot for survival
has given us whiplash
and right now at this time
the women are not alright
fought for the authority
to do with our bodies
as we see fit as if we
somehow belonged to
anyone but ourselves
love who we want
identify on the outside
how we feel on the inside
and we still have to fight because
the women are not alright
searched for sisters in ditches
given shelter to those escaping
testified to the world
the horrors we have lived
laid bare our souls
because no one believes us that
the women are not alright
we have me too’d
intersected
transversed
persevered
voted in and out
saved the world
saved ourselves
and it’s hard because inside
the women are not alright
because in our klatches
and our covens we
are trying to give support
to our sisters in pain
wrapping our arms
around each other
while still holding on
to ourselves and truly knowing
the women are not alright
our toes on the precipice
of human extinction
the women teeter
expected to fly
and some of us do
but some of us fall
and we can't catch them all
no matter how much we try
and now live with the guilt
and the shame that comes
with cheating death
and though we may look like
it on the outside
the women are not alright
(c) Elvira Berezowsky
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