Democracy, Compromised

Inside this cave they say no one can see me
but next to me is an army of warrioresses 
preparing for battle
in the dark

They say I am not allowed
what they don’t know is 
I have been ripping through these barbed wire fences 
since I was five years old
when they thought my body was theirs to touch and prod.

Inside this cave we are an army of relentless fighters,
mothers of this nation unfazed by the thick burgundy blood that runs down our thighs, 
that bursts life into being 

for this democracy 
is 
compromised

and the people,
we need you
to rise 
Fists clenched, rise
with the power within, 
we rise

“this is political”, “we can’t take a stand” in our institution 
are the words of a compromised democracy

For human rights were never about politics

choice is freedom–
the foundation this nation was built on 

atop this stolen land.