THE ABCs OF REVOLUTION

by Mary K O'Melveny

I.

A qualified woman

Becomes a

Candidate

Designated to break

Every barrier.

Full of 

Great

Hopes,

It feels

Justly

Karmic --

Mysogyny

No longer

Overtaking us.

Patriarchy

Quietly,

Righteously

Shifting away,

Taking

Up space only in

Very old history books

Which people will study

Extra carefully, especially

Young women

Zealous to know their pasts.

II.

A

Boorish

Clown

Defeats her.

Enters the stage

Frightening

Girls and women with

Hate-filled

Invective,

Justifying

Kingdoms and Klansmen.

Laughing  and leering at

Menstrual cycles.

Never apologizing for

Ogling and groping.

Preening and prattling.

Questioning facts.

Refusing reason.

Screaming for headlines.

Taking

Umbrage even in

Victory.

What choice do we have

Except resistance? 

Yielding nothing until he is

Zero.

.

* * * * *

Mary K O'Melveny is a retired labor rights lawyer living in Washington DC and Woodstock NY.  Her poems have been published in various print and on-line journals (including TWPATWT) such as FLARE:  The Flagler Review, Into the Void, Allegro Poetry Magazine and The Offbeat.  "Like so many," she writes, "I am struggling to figure out paths forward."