Eyes Closed, No Peeking
Dedicated to the governor of Pennsylvania, who suggested that women upset at being forced to have an unnecessary internal ultrasound should 'close their eyes', and to the Georgia legislator who wants to outlaw abortion even for a woman carrying a dead fetus because 'cows and pigs do it all the time' , and to the gentleman in Wisconsin who wants to outlaw divorce and says that women who are abused by their husbands should just 'remember the good times', and… and…. and….
"Just close your eyes" he said.
Close your eyes and maybe it won't hurt so much.
Maybe you can make the shame go away if you don't have to look at it,
don't have to meet the eyes of the doctor who is ready to violate you,
who is no longer allowed to address your pain and need,
Close your eyes and deal with it because from this point on,
health care for you is nothing more than a power play,
the political blood sport of men, drenched in your own desperate blood.
Close your eyes, ladies, and think of Jesus
who wants you to know that you are a sinner- and a slut
for having dreams beyond the ones given to you by your pastor,
your employer, and your governor.
See, they are worried that you might get an abortion mistakenly
thinking it's a treatment for the flu or something,
eager to brand you a wanton for having sex at all,
a Jezebel for enjoying pleasure without consequence…
the way that they get to.
Close your eyes and pretend that you are still a person
with the right to make your own, most intimate decisions about your future,
Close your eyes and remember when planning your own family
wasn't considered dirty,
when owning your body was still your birthright
and the right to give birth also included the right not to.
Close your eyes and forget that you are supposed to be a mindless object of desire,
to be salivated over and then dismissed,
used by men to sell beer and shoes and laundry detergent,
expected to exist only for their sexual pleasure, reviled for feeling it yourself,
condemned for being what they so determinedly make you: a sexual being.
So come here, little girl, here's a push-up bra, stilettos and a chastity belt
Learn now that sex is something for a man to do to a woman, not actually with her.
Understand that you must grow up to be either a slut, a dyke or a mother…
and a mother, and a mother.
Close your eyes, girls, and enjoy your patent leather Mary Janes and princess dreams
that don't yet end in blood and probes
and congressmen playing doctor behind the statehouse,
insisting that the princess carry even death in her womb, all in the name of life.
Close your eyes and think of your grandmothers, and of their grandmothers
owned by their fathers, traded to their husbands,
needing permission to go to college.
Think of the days when the few lady-like jobs that existed
were only for those un-natural old maids
unable to join the ranks of the real women doing a woman's real job of having babies.
Think of not even being allowed to learn or to help support yourself and your family,
of depending on a man to feed and clothe you and your children,
your own love and need to protect them a chain and an anchor
that keeps you in the harbor of even a loveless, abusive marriage,
your yards and yards of beautiful sail forever stowed belowdecks,
because the open seas of life is no place for a woman.
Close your eyes, ladies, and think of England,
and of Iran and Afghanistan
where women are chained for their own good, beaten for showing their faces,
stoned for going to school, sewn shut between babies, robbed of the ability to feel passion,
used for a man's desire but allowed none of their own,
receptacles, incubators, cooks and maids.
So close your eyes, and shut your mouths, and be thankful that you live
in such an enlightened, modern land.
Tracy Meisky is a poet, writer, singer, songwriter and all-around boat rocker from way back. Feel free to look around, but if you break it, you bought it.
Powerful and moving – I am so glad I am too old to have to worry about this crap, but furious that my daughter and nieces do. Thank you for saying what needed to be said.
WOW. THANK YOU. This is incredible. Absolutely incredible.
Amazing… Absolutely amazing. Thank you for writing this.
That is awesome.. I wish someone would have the guts to print that for you in one of the main New York papers and then it be on Fox and Friends early monring show, then CNN and the other major networks…. wtg and congrats, you did great on hitting on all the subjects. God bles
Hi Tracy, Nicholete Robino shared this with our Rock The Slut Vote Facebook page. We love it and would like your permission to read it at the Unite Women march on the Sacramento capitol on April 28th, where we are speaking and tabling at the afternoon event in Fremont Park after the march. Please let us know as soon as you can as we have to firm up our speaking outline quite soon. If I may ask, I don't understand the meaning behind including England with Iran and Afganistan? Would it be okay to exclude it from our reading? If you'd like to check us out first, our website is RockTheSlutVote.com and our page is Facebook/RockTheSlutVote. Thanks for your time. Susan McMillan Emry Founder, RTSV United
Excellent writing Tracy! Absolutely excellent! Thank you for sharing it with all of us.
This is FABULOUS Tracy! I'm sure you're going to see this going around for a long time. Really tells it like it is! Thank YOU 🙂
Absolutely amazing. Increadibly powerful. Thank you so much for this!
Powerful and scary. Love your poem.
Wow
Props for this powerful piece of poetic imagery!
Susan Emry, young brides who were apprehensive or otherwise averse to the idea of intercourse on demand were told to lie back, close their eyes, and think of England. They were basically encouraged to disassociate from the sex act, and like the women of Iran and Afghanistan, believed to exist soley for the purposes of providing pleasure to men, childbearing, and household tasks.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lie_back_and_think_of_England
Thanks. I responded to Susan’s question on her website- thanks for letting others who might be confused know. That phrase, “close your eyes and think of England” kept running through my head while I was writing this. Frankly I’m surprised that no one from the GOP has responded to women’s complaints about being made to endure an unnecessary transvaginal probe by saying “close your eyes and think of what Jesus would want”.
This was linked on FB, and I will be going to the rally to stop the war on women Saturday the 28 in Pershing Square 532 South Olive Street, Los Angeles. I would like permission to read this if there is any “open mic” time (since I am not on the agenda or one of the planners of the event). This is very strong. Thank you.
The only problem I have this way is characterizing Jesus this way:
"Close your eyes, ladies, and think of Jesus
who wants you to know that you are a sinner- and a slut
for having dreams beyond the ones given to you by your pastor,
your employer, and your governor.'
Maybe THEIR "version" of Jesus thinks that way, but the REAL Jesus, in my opinion, does not. Jesus was always there for "sinners," for the down trodden and oppressed. He came bringing light to all. The name of Jesus has been used for a political agenda that is not in keeping with his character as the Son of God, who loves all. WOMEN, after all, were the first to see the empty tomb, and it was on their testimony that men came to see the same. This in an era in which women were given no status whatsoever, who were far inferior to men — and Jesus negated that. It makes my blood boil when so called Christians make him into a mockery for their own ends!
Hey, anybody that uses my name can read this anywhere they want. It’s about spreading the message and opening eyes. By the way the group you are affiliated with (NOMAS) sounds like a great one!
Thank you Tracy- I hope to be able to read this at our rally in Rhode Island. Have been sharing this web site like crazy and really- I hope you understand how many lives you have touched with these words.
Thanks. It is SO gratifying and empowering to realize that so many people feel the same way I do and to have a glimmer of hope that sanity and compassion and equal rights just ~might~ prevail one day after all.
Well done Tracy!
Rock the Slut Vote ladies: Close your eyes and think of England is a reference to unwanted sex. Basically, close your eyes and think of England to get through it.
this makes me ashamed to be a man i will support you all i can
[…] Tracy Meisky who is a poet, writer, singer, songwriter and all-around boat rocker from way […]
[…] By Tracy Meisky who is a poet, writer, singer, songwriter and all-around boat rocker from way back. […]
As was advised by the British: 'Close your eyes, and think of the Queen. Remember; you're doing it for Britain and the Empire!'.
Come November ladies, please do us men a big favor and vote to kick these morons so badly, they'll NEVER think of verbalizing these evil, stupid ideas again. The future is ours to choose.
I am worried about my 4 Grandaughters who are still at tender age.My God Protect them.
Just received the link to this poem (Eyes Closed, No Peeking). It's brilliant. I'd like to know if you'd mind if I post this link to your blog on my facebook page.
Thanks for writing so eloquently about such an important issue.
Cheers,
Judy
Hi Judy,
If you check higher up, she gives permission tp post links. C'mon ladies, November is YOURS.