It’s not about love or hate, above all else I appreciate
The need to take pause, to wait and recuperate
But you don’t take your unwanted resentment
And take it out on someone who meant it, unspent
Anger and sorrow better left for tomorrow
No means no, I’m sorry did you not get the memo?
How can you as a male say that a dress was an invitation
That she was asking for it, drunk beyond imagination
Lack of consent doesn’t make it your right or her privilege
I’m sure when she wakes up she’ll be livid
She’ll want to tell someone, but who do you tell
Stuck in a spell, shamed by ones who won’t listen, welcome to ----
Afraid to say, afraid to be blamed, shamed, driven
to silence by names: ----, ----- and too much more
Names that blame her, not the attacker
Tell me, how can we leave them without hope?
When hopelessness will pull on a rope
Tugging toward an endless chasm of depression and despair
It isn’t about his prospects, what he could have done, or the clothes she chose to wear
It’s about the woman, the women who have been violated
Endless amounts of pride annihilated
The weak man’s cowardice validated, a judge’s ruling
Instead it will empower us, fueling
A fire, against discrimination and prejudice united we stand
Until in our nation, across these lands
We hold justice and freedom in our hands.