by Jen Schneider
amidst stunned
states & stunning
breaches
alongside
whispers
turned quakes
& leaks
turned looks
that suggest pens
both feared
and feathered
have chosen a line
on which to claim
their fight
stains
stomps
squashes
states
rights
one can pray (in spaces
of religious neutrality)
that the ink
blot will be contained
stains
stomps
squashes
states
rights
& that the breaking
news is merely
a sign of the times
turbulence
amidst days
heavy of bait
stains
stomps
squashes
states
rights
rather than
an alert
of the (dark) ages
& finalized pages
so that fifty years
of reproductive rights
remains on & of books
produced
with no breaks
stitched tight
not of patchwork
but of federal right
& of plights
with no turns
& of nights
with no detours
& ideologies
remain unstamped
in sacred (politically
neutral) spaces
of individual (personally
critical) places
of individual
rights
before
the ink dries
hope resists
& remains
resolute
that quakes
settle
& reproductive
freedom
persists
Jen Schneider is an educator who lives, writes, and works in small spaces throughout Pennsylvania. Recent works include A Collection of Recollections, Invisible Ink, On Habits & Habitats, and Blindfolds, Bruises, and Breakups.