Just Another Day

I’m thinking of today.

Of what it should or

could be.

Call me ungrateful,

but what it is

is disappointing.

Women are celebrating

and wishing each other a happy day.

They are taking pictures

creating art,

sharing with us.

They are

advocating

writing

working

educating

spreading awareness

reading the words of other brilliant women

talking about other brilliant women

to people who may or may not know

who they are talking about

as they do every day.

Women are doing that

and on top of this

they are living their lives

and dealing with their regular responsibilities

which often include

their careers

cleaning up after others

feeding others

checking in with loved ones

making sure that everyone within their vicinity is emotionally stable

and possibly getting around to what they want to do.

Women are doing this extra work 

on their day

which is ironic

but not surprising.

We are blessed to have women

but we treat them like we’re entitled to their labor.

We, as in both men and women, do this.

Some still don’t consider all of this to be work.

Work is productivity

and earning

and profits

and numbers.

Maybe they think this is just frivolous social media activism

maybe they consider this passion.

But let’s not forget the cultures that require

activism to be a passion in the first place.

it’s a passion because

it has to be

or women and marginalized communities would be easily forgotten.

But all of this remains a woman’s passion,

a woman’s work

and a woman’s issue, right?

It’s women holding this world together

and cleaning up after you 

who kicked them while they were down

and begging for mercy.

This is international women’s day.

A day that allows us to celebrate our gender

and our power that doesn’t always feel powerful.

Yet, we celebrate

as forgotten and abused women around the world

weep

and can’t breathe

and can barely carry the weight of what’s on their backs

but always do it anyways

and can’t sleep

without a gun under their pillow

and can’t rest

until their children and husband are in bed

and tomorrow’s lunches are made.

and they can’t play or create

or watch a television show

without feeling guilty

that they’re not

devoting more of their energy

and compassion and time

to something or someone that may never reciprocate

the amount of love given to them

because they don’t have to.

It’s another day that 999 of 1000 male perpetrators walk free

while the survivors are stuck with a life sentence of reminders and fears.

It’s another day that a survivor says she’s afraid to report her rapist

because the system and the culture are unfriendly and unsafe 

and he may retaliate, and nobody can protect her from that.

It’s another day an attorney makes money

by proudly and arrogantly advertising his defense of the guilty

and shaming women

into a corner 

and he doesn’t lose an ounce of sleep.

Just another day a woman cries over a positive pregnancy test

and realizes she will now have to fight even harder for control over her own body. 

Just another day that there are complicit members of these systems,

men and often women,

who benefit from the status quo 

and have the power to change it

but simply

don’t

because they don’t have to.

It takes extra work.

It takes passion.

The passion that comes naturally to women

because it has to 

like they’re stuck with it.

We don’t deserve these women

who do this work

who expect the bare minimum in return

and receive far less than that.

Show me a man who wished us a happy international women’s day.

Do they know it’s today?

They don’t have to know.

They don’t have to read this poem.

They don’t have to be aware of any of the statistics I’ve accidentally memorized.

They’ll say I’m angry

when they haven’t even heard my voice

or seen my face

or read my story

or felt my pain

or the heartache all women feel when we read the daily news

knowing our names could be in there tomorrow. 

I’m not angry

I’m not complaining

I’m protective

of the women who will continue to do more and more

and more

tomorrow

through to the next

international women’s day

celebration.

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