Wednesday, August 14, 2024

THAT THING SHE SAID

by Lisa Shulman


AI-generated graphic by Shutterstock for The New Verse News


when our hand clap games

were shuffled off sidewalks by boys on bikes

 

when classrooms became cages

we stammered behind

 

when our ideas were ignored

when our dreams were stolen

 

when the male gaze followed us unbidden

down dark streets, into sunny parks

 

when we said no

when we said stop

 

when we no longer said

anything

 

she said it for us

put voice back in our mouths

 

in the face of all the world

has tried to silence—

 

We are speaking now.



Lisa Shulman is a writer, children’s book author, and teacher. Her work has appeared in ONE ART, Poetry Breakfast, CatamaranMinnow Literary MagazineCalifornia QuarterlyThe Best Small Fictions, and a number of other magazines and anthologies. Nominated for a Pushcart Prize, Lisa’s poetry has been performed by Off the Page Readers Theater. Her chapbook Fragile Bones, Fierce Heart is forthcoming from Finishing Line Press. Lisa lives in Northern California where she teaches poetry with California Poets in the Schools.