"If My Vagina Was a Gun" by Katie Heim from Austin, Texas

I just LOVE this, it's powerful, to the point, and addresses the Texas Legislature in passing strict abortion  laws that would ban abortions in most of the state. I feel it's a powerful piece....and speaks to how women's bodies are being so regulated, while folks get to carry guns that actually KILL and we still can't pass strong gun control laws to stop the killings!                                  -M.A.

 

Countless people stepped up to testify before the Texas Senate committee on the restrictive abortion law, which would essentially ban abortions in most of the state. One stood out as Katie Heim from Austin bravely gave her testimony before the committee in the form of a poem titled, “If My Vagina Was a Gun.”

“If my vagina was a gun, you would stand for its rights,

You would ride on buses and fight all the fights.

If my vagina was a gun, you would treat it with care,

You wouldn’t spill all its secrets because, well, why go there.

If my vaginas was a gun, you’d say what it holds is private

From cold dead hands we could pry, you surely would riot.

If my vagina was a gun, its rights would all be protected,

no matter the body count or the children affected.

If my vagina was a gun, I could bypass security,

concealed carry laws would ensure I’d have impunity.

If my vagina was a gun, I wouldn’t have to beg you,

I could hunt this great land and do all the things men do.

But my vagina is not a gun, it is a mightier thing,

With a voice that rings true making lawmakers’ ears ring.

Vaginas are not delicate, they are muscular and magic,

So stop messing with mine, with legislation that’s tragic.

My vagina’s here to demand from the source,

Listen to the voices of thousands or feel their full force.”

Honor the She by Grace Skrobisz

Honor the She

by Grace Skrobisz  on Monday, July 30, 2012 at 2:02pm

What will happen to the poetry
After all our words have been co-opted and commodified
How can one just stand by
And believe they are justified
In their dissension
That lacks critical thought and analyzation

We must dig deep these days
To stay true to our roots
We must dig deep these days
To keep our roots in the ground

As the landslide of misogyny
And the erosion of integrity
Floods our streets
With blocked water drains of shame

It’s a struggle to battle the game
It’s a struggle to battle in this game

They say it’s always darkest before the dawn
And although America finally elected a good president
(after eight years of stolen elections)
the damage was done
the damage was done
and so far away seems the dawn
and so far away seems the dawn

We must dig deep these days
To stay true to our roots
We must dig deep these days
To keep our roots in the ground

And let’s stop fucking around
With all this post-post-post
Post everything trend
Because the one thing
That isn’t ‘post-‘
Is the bullshit
That is co-opting reality and definition
With the politics of identification
Trying to put biology itself
Into extinction

And let’s get one thing straight:
I’m not
Yet my love has no bounds
Of race, class, creed,
Sex or gender
Except I’m still not convinced
That this thing called ‘gender’
Actually exists

But I do know the war wages on
Against women of my female sex
Seems the power to give birth
Is the newest ‘weapon of mass destruction’
To be searched for in the Mother Earth’s caves
But this Power of Mass Creation
Is what actually exists

So quick, check all your notifications
And re-post all your memes
Stay glued to all your gadgets
The webinet
And all glowing screens:

Mother Earth is powerful
And Females are Strong
And many of us have woken up
And are refusing to play along

So give thanks for your life
The body bestowed upon thee
Give honor to the She
Give honor to the She
Because we are the reason
You breathe

Stop focusing on image
It makes one’s soul thin
Go back to within
Where She keeps the love and the healing
Stop hating your body
Stop playing along
With the lies we spoon-feed ourselves
With media’s smoking gun

Because you are perfectly you
And so am i
You are perfectly you
And so am i
And so are you
And so am I
And so are you

Hold fast to the poetry
Feel Her sing to your soul
Dig deep to stay true to your roots
And honor the She
And honor the She
She’ll keep you whole