CW: mentions of misogyny

people said do as they say
don’t speak ‘til asked, sit down, do it their way
we were taught to follow, respect and absorb their rules
i’m sure you remember making posters about it back in primary school?
they told us not to question, they know what’s right
but try telling that to the fifteen women murdered by officers in plain sight
abusing the power their warrant cards, badges and uniform provide
it makes you wonder if you ever get stopped, “have they lied?”
Dick described him as a “bad’un”, a rotting apple in an otherwise healthy tree
but what happens when film night at a friend’s runs late and it’s you or me?

the protestors tell us we must look out for our own
an idea i find both comforting yet marred with depressing undertones
while we know we are resilient, tough, bright and strong
politicians continue to tell us we are safer when the days are long
but if the Clapham Common vigil left me with just one thought
it was that a torch’s light is power and a force stronger than any card, cuffs, hand or report
still we fight for the safety of our streets
to walk home one day with our hands not clutching at our keys
but this week we think of Sarah, Natalie, Heather and Claire,
and imagine them running, dancing and skipping down a late night London street with the wind blowing through their hair

Image courtesy of Filip Mroz