A PETITION FOR CHANGE

...TO STOP VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN,
EVERYWHERE, ANYTIME, IN ANY FORM.

"to stop
and understand"
By Scaramouche, the po(t)et; political and proud of it.
I take my stand and I do it with my head held high.

on your special day
in your narrow box
with an audience to listen
an a thousand faces to judge
and be judged by

yes, well

if you had known
the roses on her cheeks
if you had felt
the sweetness of her lips

then
would having conquered her heart
seemed such an ordeal
to you?

if you had heard
the thrills of her laughter
if you had spotted
that twinkle in her lady eyes

then
would tearing her apart, piece by piece
seemed more impossible
to you?

if you had got
goosegumps from her fingernails
on your plump footsoles
if you had sensed
her fair skin against your rough
yet still a great deal manly

then
would the obstacles in your way, when placing that ring
upon her finger have been less prominent
to you?

if you had been warmed
by her smooth palms
against your stubbles
if you had been stroked
like a child, yet much a man,
despite her troubles

then
would yelling, screaming, swearing
have come not quite that easily
to you?

and
would walking out on her, night after night
have been less likely a choice to be made
by you?

would silencing the crying by force, 'cause
you couldn't bear the aftermath,
been harder
to you?

yes, well

if you had heard
the firmness of the goodbye
she never got to say

if you had born
the blame within her soul
she never rid herself of

if you had opened
the lids you always closed
and tried to mind

if you hadn't had it all
and let it got to waste,
if you had ever dared

then, finally;

when her whispers soon fade out
and the beauty falters, you're just
bending over another immobile figure
a still life in white, her bruises being
decorations that never gained you any prize
a sculpture you made, a craft of your own
reflecting now all the self-inflicted guilt
you'll claim you never saw,

would it have seemed
less of a probable solution
if it had all been known
to you?

**

"If anyone should wish to have me shut my silly mouth and get a life - well, then you can all go to Hell and I'm sure you'll feel very much at home there!" - Candice Troughton