on the gallows pole
at the turn of
the womanhood
of resistance  
I am naked
with my sins
but not
to the touch
white men
will be devoured
outwitted
unflavored
by my kind

because of the government
we know evil
because of the government
my people
rise from the ashes
of our pain
our grief
out of sleep
and into a riotous
rebellion
of soft skin
and hard fingernails
of women
who were never held back
but silenced
of women who were never held up
but let down
we will be the ones
to remind The Man
that we have been here
all along—
as prophets
as keepers
as an articulation
of the people
we refuse
to
keep quiet.