My aim is not to hear you say, “But I am a woman, and I struggle to get promoted. It’s not just Black women, it’s all women.”
My aim is not to hear you say, “But I am poor, too. It’s not Black people, it’s all working-class people.”
My aim is not to hear you say I am being divisive, “It’s not all white people who have white privilege, because I don’t.”
Just as I have sat in the words and experiences I have found uncomfortable to hear and feel, and asked myself why I feel what I am feeling, my aim is for you to not use your privilege to put up your hand and make the comments that reek of privilege most of all.
Silencing you for a moment can be a teachable moment, if you just take the time to sit on the fence and examine the gardens around you…
Do you see it? Do you? Even in the shade, even with the dodgy PH balance of your soil, even with the adverse weather you have experienced, your grass is greener than mine.
Stop putting up your hand to silence me, and start picking up your watering can, to help my garden to flourish, too.
Melissa Simmonds
MisTÂûght
- Poetry: I Don’t want to hear it, and neither do you - March 16, 2020
- Poetry: Two Voyages to CommonWEALTH - February 18, 2020
6 Responses
<3
What’s the issue with poetry then? What happens to a hearing for poets from oppressed backgrounds ?
should say
does some one think it’s offensive?
it should say:
passes watering can in silence
and is intended to show respect