the silent rage of women (poem)
is often underestimated because
taken for complicity or agreement
(if you really cared you’d speak up, now wouldn’t you?)
folks forget it’s not just fight or flight
but also freeze
in a slurry of how could you
why would you
what the hell were you thinking
(oh my stars and garters did he actually just do that?
Is this really happening? I thought this person was my friend?)
we were told to play nice
to smile to let it go to not be shrill
and our reflexes are stunted
caught between push and pull
locked solid with fear and fury
frozen and stuck
the moment of most danger in an earthquake
is when the plates of earth are crushed together
and there is no place where the pressure can go
(If I say stop will I be beaten and killed?)
And it couldn’t have been that bad
if you didn’t fight or yell or run away
you’re awfully calm for someone
who claims to be frightened
(what WERE you wearing?)
it was only in fun
no one meant anything by it
the tectonic plates are still grinding.
There is no place where the pressure can go.
Watch where you stand.
