Taken

Taken

Pushed out

Robbed

Removed

Dismissed

Stripped

Disassembled

Bit by bit

Title by title

Experience blotted out

With degrees and certificates.

Taken,

The practice of medicine

Taken,

The crafts of our hands.

Taken,

The sounds of our voices.

Taken,

The books from our shelves,

taken.

We are not inherently weak.

We have been destroyed,

Dismantled,

Piece by piece,

Forced behind,

A man,

All men.

We were once equal.

That's why they push so hard,

They argue so adamantly.

Because the reason we were pushed,

The reason we're suppressed

On every side,

Is

They remember,

They remember when we were equals.

Despite being scrubbed from history,

There are a few traces of our greatness,

Our innovation, creativity, imagination

Grit and tenacity,

Resolve and determination.

The records were gathered and burned,

The ashes scattered.

They hoped we would never find out,

But the knowledge of my greatness

Lives and breathes inside of me.

It awakens,

Sparks in recognition,

When I dig and discover

A woman like me,

Strong and smart and persistent.

When I read of her discoveries,

Her accomplishments,

Her struggle.

I see my struggle,

And I take heart.

For I am reading 

Her story,

And I am writing

Mine.