XX Chromosome verdict: sentenced to death,
Or life in a domestic, white picket prison
For purposes of bearing a more fortunate fruit.

Speak when spoken to;
Hair, clothes, plastic smile all kept in mint condition,
With accessories included, too
For our owners' satisfaction.
Continually struck down, awakened in the process.

Up, Up, Up
The balloon goes
Filled with ambition and self-worth.
Yes, I went through Hell
Dealing with the unimaginably vile and cruel
Just for the right to sit next to you in school.

Traded suffering for suffrage.
Waged war to keep my wage.

Up, Up, Up
Further the balloon soars
Filled with determination
to break down locked doors.
You kept me out of the classroom
with nowhere to stand
Now I write your lesson plan.
Withheld the ballot to keep me in the dark.
How do you feel now to know
My name is on it for all to mark?

We have risen from the ashes
of our father's fire
Graduated from being dolls, biological factories,
And objects of sexual desire.

We will pound on the ceiling until the glass shatters
Once and for all
For one and for all.

Unplug your ears of "boys will be boys" to hear
the rapes of our mothers, daughters, and sisters
Once thought to be whispers,
the screams are now clear.

We stand together now
To shout what we know to be true
That it does not make you more Red, White, and Blue
to hide and excuse
the centuries of Black and Blue.

Today, my future does not start and end
at the chime of the church bell
But our work is far from done
until the world is safe for BOTH our daughters and sons.