on the outside looking in
seeing the world through a lense so dim
trying to wipe off the grit so grim

knowledge scatters beams of understanding
that ripples all around me

you see
I'm seeing things more historically
it wasn't until that ammendment, the 19th
that women could even vote legally
in the year 1920

you say that was so long ago
ancient
forever

but in the grand scheme of things
what is 100 years really?
like a faint wisp
a millisecond compared to 4720381084018417012470147083204 and 66

it wasn't that long ago
that women weren't treated like women
but children
utterly dependent on a man
ain't it sad
your children?
your property?
all went to your husband if he divorced you
honestly
and if you think otherwise
you're being naive

I say these things not to merely complain
in fact, I say it
to contrast the past to today

I celebrate the women
who fought tooth and nail
who would picket the President at his own Oval Office
for his inaction and apathy
even if it meant going to jail

I am thankful for these women
who realized society's disgrace
of trying to assign her to a sphere
that was really just a confining, suffocating place

woman, today you are free!
as free as you allow yourself to be
you don't have to be "barefoot & pregnant"
cooking & cleaning
sewing and mending
unless that is what you wish to be

you can be a doctor
a lawyer
a construction worker
or a mother

inherit in your role of choice
is dignity
that comes from using your own voice