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| 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, Catamaran, Minnow Literary Magazine, California Quarterly, The 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.