Those who fight for freedom
to be themselves beyond the norms of gender
fight for us all,
for we are all constricted by the norms

Those who fight oppression against women
fight for us all,
for every slighting of the worth of any person
slights us all

Living in privilege
makes people stupid,
because, in that mythos,
it’s to our advantage
to simply not notice
that we are complicit
in others’ suppression

There is no us and them
and every one of us
who lifts a voice in courage,
to be heard and seen and known,
makes room for more of us
under the sky,
to find our voices
and to claim our own,
to lift our many-colored heads
and grow more free.

©Wendy Mulhern
May 18, 2014