Women Will Never Abandon Their Dream of Equality

by Ernie McCray

Women have
lost the right
to protect the wellbeing
of their very being
but their struggle
will go on
because they know that
America’s promise of
“liberty and justice for all,”
as it is for dark skinned citizens,
is but a dream,
a dream that is forever sought
because they’ve fought for it
for centuries,
once having to combat
being beheaded
or burned at the stake
or hung from trees
for practicing witchery,
a notion conceived
out of hellish religious beliefs
steeped in “male superiority,”
and they took to the streets
to be heard at the polls or to file for a divorce,
or to own property,
sue for damages or run businesses,
earn diplomas and college degrees,
come and go
and dress as they please…

And now here they are today,
nowhere near abandoning
their dream of equality,
taking the first steps on a path
to winning back the right
to deciding for themselves
what does or doesn’t happen
to their bodies –

the way it’s supposed to be.