my body

my body.

my body is a foreign land

my body is a patriarchal hazard 

my body is a civil war 

my body is accepting applications 

for unwanted commentary 

my body is a burial ground 

home to the gravestones 

of teenage boys 

whose epitaph reads 

beloved by friends but

brainwashed by patriarchy 

my body is alarmed 

every time 

a car drives by too closely

activating it’s fight or flight system 

my body is in flight mode

my body is claimed 

and (re)claimed 

my body is wanted 

and (un)wanted 

my body is a systole 

diastole reaction 

my body is pumping blood 

into a cardiovascular system 

that is systematically oppressed 

my body is anything but mine 

i (re)claim my body 

as my native land 

but the troops are invading 

the newspaper reads 

civil war 

the newspaper reads 

territory is too big 

and must be divided 

social media reads 

diet 

the television screen reads 

white, thin, blond, barbie

the billboard reads 

taylor for your bodysuit 

something for everybody 

the advertisement reads 

pain(less) waxing

i (re) claim my body 

but white men 

wrote lies in its history books 

i (re) claim my body 

but there is nothing 

left to claim 

every synapse has been invaded 

every natural resource 

has been stripped 

waxed and depleted 

i (re) claim my body 

but even the neural pathways 

in my mind are under attack 

i call all troops to

 mind-control station 

i (re) write the story 

i burn the old history books

i (re) turn home  

(safely?) late at night 

i (re) claim my body 

i (re) claim 

my body

my 

body

my body.