This is my entry in to the #TeamGirlPowa Poetry Contest: Feminist Fire!
Thank you @teamgirlpowa for this call to action and thank you to @shawnamawna, @limabeing, @rachelhanson10, and @tessaradudley for taking the time to judge the enries.

Poetic Statement

After reading about the contest here: @teamgirlpowa/teamgirlpowa-poetry-contest-feminist-fire

I knew I wanted to get involved, for far too long the word "feminism" has been seen as a dirty word, as way too radical. I have had people in my life call me a feminist in the hope of upsetting me, because they have seen it almost as slang, used to offend. There is a true misunderstanding about what it means because it really means different things to different people. To me it is a positive word, it is a word that calls for understanding, acceptance and unity. In this patriarchal society that is trying very hard to keep it's claws in the world, it has been marked in a negative way, used to segregate and divide us. But we are waking up to this, now is the time for us women to come together, put our voices together, tap into our wisdom and be heard. This is what my poem represents. Now is the time, we are the ones we have been waiting for. This is my call to action

I also wanted to include @tessaragabrielle call to action, is very inspiring and much needed.

Feminist Fire is about strength. It’s about an unflinching look at our feelings. It’s about not denying our own emotions, but using them instead, using them to change the world. To change minds, to affirm ourselves and our sisters, to speak into the universe this truth: “I am here.” Feminist fire is a tribute to women’s power. It announces that we are done lying to ourselves and each other, that we will express ourselves however we damn well please. Feminist fire is about sharing our truth, no matter how messy it is. It is about unapologetic women and passionate women and women who own their realities. It is about women who reclaim their power, and it is about the beauty and fire of a woman’s spirit, and it is about speaking aloud what must be spoken in order for us all to be free.

Feminist Fire

Raw emotions
course through my body,
this reality of oppression,
of power over and deceit,
Our herstory is old and battered
we have been forcefully convinced it is weak.

So much power and identity stolen,
so much energy subdued,
from fear of our true potential
finally coming through.

Shoved in cartons and boxes,
that leave us deformed,
our spirits holding on
but in check and uniformed.

Our voices killed back to a whisper
defeat at one time so close at hand,
But we are more then one thing,
we are timeless and we still can command.

But ours is not an army,
that is not the way we operate
we are creators and nurtures
we seek unity and to demolish all this hate.

And No you will not silence me,
you will not make me hang my head in shame,
we may even have been turned against one another
but we all feel the pain.

Our many whispers now come together
our many forms begin to take shape,
we are no longer a people in denial
we have found our way to escape.

What may have started out as a spark,
feed by drips and quieten down roars,
Is the awaking of ancient wisdom held within,
it is the breaking down of many doors.

And with it comes more knowledge,
more understanding,
more acceptance now awaits.
The time has come to wake up
to join together and recreate.

Image Sources:

1st:https://www.huffingtonpost.com
2nd:http://top10.viralbuy.site/
3rd:https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/322429654562698464/