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                      Pearls of Dissent

                      Published by Sue Cook at June 27, 2022
                      Categories
                      • Poetry
                      Tags
                      • abortion poetry
                      • RGB poetry
                      • Roe V Wade overturn poetry
                      • Supreme Court poetry
                      • women’s rights
                      Pearls of Dissent

                      Image created onCanva

                      Today I wore pearls,
                      small beads clinging to my neck for comfort.
                      Disturbing news from the courts –
                      fifty years of progress, erased in a heartbeat.

                      Suddenly I am five again,
                      hearing that someday I will have a baby. 
                      It never happened. 
                      A disease ended my chances.
                      Birth control kept death at bay.
                      Surgery saved my life.

                      Had this happened today, I would die a slow,
                      bloody death.
                      People would shrug, and say “Ah, too bad.”
                      Extreme pro-lifers and pro-birthers
                      would smile their smug smiles
                      and say what a nice life I had.

                      From the grave I would scream
                      “Thou art unfit for any place but hell.”*

                      Slowly my pearls begin to chant “I dissent.”
                      My heart joins the chorus.

                      I am powerful in the face of the enemy. 

                      The beast hates strong women.
                      He plans to destroy our futures –
                      Six minions carried out his vile deed.

                      But
                      we will not be silenced.

                      Our lives are worth more than what cis men can ever imagine.

                      We are more than wombs and eggs
                      and objects to control and rape.
                      We are more than incubators
                      for the coming of the Fourth Reich.
                      We are not to be trifled with,
                      as Medea showed those who doubted.

                      The pearls swirl around me,
                      gaining power from all women
                      who have been disregarded as less.

                      I dissent.
                      They chant.
                      My heart calls
                      its assent.
                      I dissent!

                      *(Richard III Act 1, Scene 2, Shakespeare)


                      Need more poetry? Check out these other MockingOwl Roost offerings.

                      Secret Garden
                      When the World Flipped Over
                      Pigeon

                      Sue Cook
                      + posts

                      Sue Cook lives in Freeport, Illinois with her husband Randy and two dogs. Her passions include assistance dogs, rescue dogs, music, acting, theater, poetry, and Doctor Who. She’s been in both film and theater and is a regular cast member of the podcast Doctor Who’s Line is it….Anyway? Sue is an advocate for the use of Service Dogs to assist their disabled handlers to maintain their independence. Quigley’s Quest, her first children’s book, addresses how a dog becomes a Service Dog.

                      • Sue Cook
                        https://www.mockingowlroost.com/blog/author/suecook/
                        Book Review: Ninety-Nine Fire Hoops
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                        https://www.mockingowlroost.com/blog/author/suecook/
                        My Favorite Christmas Things: A Christmas Carol
                      • Sue Cook
                        https://www.mockingowlroost.com/blog/author/suecook/
                        Book Review: Flury: Journey Of A Snowman
                      • Sue Cook
                        https://www.mockingowlroost.com/blog/author/suecook/
                        Say Cheese!

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