Our Poet's May Poem - “EQUAL JUSTICE, UNDER … WHOM?”

 

May 2021 Pome

 

“EQUAL JUSTICE, UNDER … WHOM?” *

An Anthem for Voting Rights Advocates

 

              “On August 18, 1920, the Tennessee General Assembly made history, voting

              to approve the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution. Opponents           worked feverishly to rescind the ratification vote on constitutional technicalities.            Some anti-suffrage legislators even fled the state in an attempt to prevent a        quorum in the General Assembly.” – News item

 

            Thirty-six votes were needed, they came in at last,

            In the state legislature deciders were cast,

            And hosannas went up from each Suffragette’s throat,

            “Take that, you big bullies, for now we can vote!”

 

            And ever since then, in incredible ways,

            The ladies have set every movement ablaze,

            If a man says “You can’t”, they respond with a roar,

            “Let us into your club or we’ll kick in the door!”

 

            “We demand combat missions!” They got ‘em, of course,

            They can bomb with the best of the U..S. Air Force,

            As Marines and as soldiers, it’s “Fix bayonets!”,

            Not much left to wish for, today’s Suffragettes.

 

            So the ladies are warriors, itching to fight,

            They’ll punch, slap and kick, they’ll scratch, spit and bite,

            But the mothers may screech like the loudest of hags,

            As their daughters come home in non-sex body bags.

 

            6-9-20

 

 

* When Tennessee’s state legislature passed the final ratifying vote, the balance of American politics was changed forever. And once women had the vote, they used it with the force of the Incredible Hulk. Whether or not their efforts to revive the seemingly-dead Equal Rights Amendment will be successful is a matter for soothsayers, not political analysts.