“Cheers”

To the armchair attorneys
Who sat back and laid out doctrine carefully
Made sure no one spoke in terms of people
That no argument had the stink of humanity on it
Logic, law – definitions are important, you know
Distill everything to “x” and “y”
And “woman” could be replaced with “oven”
And change nothing in the statute
Isn’t that fascinating?
Cheers.
And also fuck you.

To the honest assholes
Who never once cared if we were safe or happy
As long as the right bits jiggled
Giggling at words like “menstruate”
Snarling low threats about coerced child support from uppity bitches
Living in fear that they might lose their grip
On a world that let them laugh at their mistakes instead of pay for them
At least your cruelty was manifested plain and simple
Cheers.
And also fuck you.

To the seething, soft-armed ladies
Of the churches and empty nest kitchens
Surrounded by bowls of stale apples and family photos
Clutching at the rigid concept of “sweet baby”
Hating the feral mothers, who mated like cats and were probably on welfare
A hatred that condemned from the stale safety of stasis
And turned away in scorn when said sweet life emerged poor and in need
Cheers.
And also fuck you.

To the nihilists online
Making sure that no one acts because it’s all broken
How come there are bad things in the world and you know they don’t take sides anymore because both sides are equally bad and really it’s about education and civility is gone and there are no angels and violence isn’t the answer and how their hearts are breaking but what can you do what can you expect what can you achieve and really what were we expecting in such a broken system…
See, this is why they’re glad to be “mostly off-grid.”
Cheers.
And also fuck you.

To the law that removed our humanity
To the force that removed our dignity
To the scorn that removed our decency
To the shrugs that removed our civility
Here must I, inhuman, undignified, indecent, and uncivil raise my bitter glass.
Cheers.
And also fuck you.

****

I used to have a nuanced take on the issue. Today I’m just fucking furious.