Photography © Lauren Shear

 

United They Fall

The bodies are piling up
again
as past becomes present
again.
victims and survivors

united
by innocence,
by grief
by failure,

failure
to protect,
failure
to police,
the failure
of lawmakers,
the elected
and electors.
All of them failed.

And now they cry out,
those victims
who survived
“you failed us
failed us
failed us.”

Even the dead whisper an echo
that only the deaf will hear.

 
 
Birth Rights

Our rights die at birth
for pro-lifers.
They were already lost
for the mother
at conception.
And in those post foetal
post natal
moments of freedom
when we move
ourselves
from the womb,
our rights diminish.

They say that life
must be lived
according to
the laws of God,
laws written
and dispatched
to the believers
in patriarchal dreams
of regression
to an earlier age.

Break those laws
and they’re back
with interest
to make you pay
but only
if you’re female,
the men go free
say pro-lifers.

 

Lynn White lives in north Wales. Her work is influenced by issues of social justice and events, places and people she has known or imagined. She is especially interested in exploring the boundaries of dream, fantasy and reality.

Lauren Shear is a museum professional, public historian, and lifelong resident of Massachusetts. She has been working with activist groups since college and has been seeking ways to support communities under attack ever since.