Wednesday, May 04, 2022

IN STATES OF SUSPENSION (& HOPE) :: OF LEAKS, TWEAKS, & BREACH

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 RecollectionsInvisible InkOn Habits & Habitats, and Blindfolds, Bruises, and Breakups.