When the streets have jaws
that tear us and swallow 
when we are made Things
for others to borrow
when the law has rules
that bind and control us -
when society’s tools
are designed to patrol us
when our homes have monsters
that lie in our beds - 
when the world believes them,
because it’s all in our heads
when we’re trapped in a nightmare
with nowhere to hide
when we know that most judges
will not take our side 
when we have to do more
just to get on -
when ‘having it all’
is still doing it wrong
when we’re told we’re too much
but never enough
when we’re ‘frigid’ or ‘sluts’
boxed up and rebuffed
when no ears will hear
the shape of our pain
when ‘what was she wearing?’
becomes a refrain -
when our unfurling
is stopped in its tracks
when we lose basic rights
we cannot claw back
when ‘not all men’
is the best they can give us
when they shrug it off
and aren’t raging with us
when we know our daughters
will go through the same
when we stifle their wild
and hand them the blame -
when we grieve a sister
whose life was just taken
when we learn her story
and the waste leaves us shaken -
when we see her mother
reliving her torture
when we think of the fear
in that moment he caught her -
when having a womb
means we’re always beneath
when we are reduced
to just muff, tits and teeth
when ‘I’d give her one’
is lads having a lark 
when we are too scared
to walk in a park -
when bruises bloom purple
on our body and heart -

We gather. 

We stand.

And we light up the dark. 


This is for Sabina Nessa. For Sarah Everard. Terri Harris. Bibaa Henry. Nicole Smallman. And many, too many more. We will remember you. 

It is also for anyone who hasn’t made it to a vigil but wanted to. Share this instead. 
[Photograph: The Guardian, James Veysey/Rex/Shutterstock]