Tuesday Slice: And so I marched

My heart has been heavy since November

My brow furrowed with every regressive soundbite

My head filled with worry

And so I marched.

I have seen the spectrum of public education

Working in its halls, the drab and the shiny

Witnessing the challenges and the triumphs

And so I marched.

I have seen the news reports

Of earthquakes begotten of fracking

Glaciers melting, treasured national parks up for sale

And so I marched.

I have seen the intrusion of government

Come between my doctor and my body

Politicians who think they know better than me and my caregivers

And so I marched.

I have listened to friends and family in love

Worried about their legal attachments

Their right to share lives and homes and children

And so I marched.

I have paid the pink tax

Worked longer and earned less

Had to subject my name to my husband's on a bank account

And so I marched.

I have been subjected to uninvited sexual comments

And listened as colleagues put up with the same
Walked to my car with my keys jutting between my fingers

And so I marched.

I have heard my friends' stories

Of abuse, assault, rape

Scars that years of therapy can't erase

And so I marched.

Surrounded by fifty thousand beacons of hope,

 love, change, resistance

My heart lighter, my eyes brighter

Because I marched.

Text and photos copyright 2017 by Christine Margocs