I
Do not exist
At least, not in your mind
But our worlds are intertwined
And to ignore me you must be blind

I will not bend
To the rules of your society
Forcing on me propriety
While you walk around
With castration anxiety

No, I will not allow
You cannot dictate
Who I am
I am not a date
You’ll have back by eight
Taken out on a
Discount rate
No mister
I’d rather go out with a sister
Her words aren’t scathing
Don’t cause blister

If we can
Break away
Just for a day
From your patriarchal
Shit-hole
You would see our eyes sparkle
Because we can reject
Those high heeled shoes
Those
Flowery dresses
Wearing out combat boots
And armor-plated shirts

But once we get home
It’s all silence and cold
So we don’t piss you off
Bring ourselves that attention
Because we know
We know better
Than to invite that beating
Come here little girl
I’ll show you what the world’s like

As if we
Should deserve to be treated this way
As if we
Should know better
Because of our gender
Because of the
Curves of our hips
The breasts on our chests
Our wispy little waists
As if we know better
Because that’s what we
Are supposed to be

We, women,
Struggling through every day
Stares and catcalls
And sideways glances
Just take it all
Just ignore the pain
Don’t be afraid
But fear enough to stay
Away from the darkness and the shadows
Because you have to protect yourself
No one will do it for you

And my sisters who are fighting for more
Taking care of their men
Because if they listen to themselves
They are selfish
They are turning on their race
Why can’t my hermana chicana
Just be one with me?

And if that man we’re with
Wants all of us
We are to give it
Our selves are minimized
Can’t breathe or whisper
Without being shunned
By the ones who are supposed to care
Supposed to protect us
Take care of yourself sister
No one has your back but you

And if we band together
We are whores
We are witches
We are forgetting who we’re supposed to be
Meek and silent
Because this progress that we make
Without moving forward
This is going to keep us afloat
This is going to save our sisters
And while we sit by and watch our lives improving
Everyone is passing us by
Because they don’t want us to really see
What this world has made us be

And if we try to fight
We are bitches
We are cold an prudish
And dykes of the worst kind

Wear your armor tight
And keep your body strong
Because, sister,
They will try to break you down
So scream
For all the screams that are never heard
For the sisters who are raped
Who are beaten
Who are prisoners
And lost their freedom
If we’ve made so much progress
Then why are the streets
Still battlegrounds
Still prison camps
Still places of fear

As if we know better
We walk through the streets
Heads held high
We know better
Than to give in to the fear you produce
We will fight back
We, women

And if my sister should need
Companionship
Compassion
Someone to take care of
Who better to be by her side
Than me

We, women,
Our bark cannot be
Bigger than our bite
Freedom is just on
The other side
Of the walls of man
And if he tries to stop
Our sisters are by our side
And we will fight for our rights
Until the day we die

We don’t have to be subtle
Words are our strongest weapons
They want us to be silent
To stand by and watch
As they take what they desire
But as sisters we fight
Drowning their cries

And those curves in our hips
Those breasts on our chests
Those
Wispy waists
We throw them away
Our beauty comes from the inside
Not from what you deem acceptable
Not from what you dream of at night
Warm and safe in your
Soft bed of patriarchy

No, we fight for our dreams
For our safety on the streets
For our safety in our homes
We fight to keep you away
From our sisters at school
From our sisters across the globe
We, women,
We will fight as one
And we won’t stop
Until we have won