A Feminist Rant

A lump swelled up
in the back of my throat
I was choked up
on sentiments
of non-existence

and who exactly am I
to speak in first person?
A woman
fighting back
against
the world’s erasure

although we’ve
been conditioned to
downplay our achievements,
wear lace and
be quick witted
with our bodies

erasing the pulse
of a homogenized
lifeblood

sisters, mothers, daughters
their names disappearing
into endless data

identities irrelevant

fragile histories
compressed
flattened
into this stream
of global progress yet
a silent rebellion
is underway
against the fading
of all that I am

with the understanding
that I was never
really my own
to begin with.