Choosing Beyond Choice
by
Judy Rohrer
“Your body, my choice”1
it’s past time to rethink liberal “choice”
it’s been coopted
most of us couldn’t exercise it any way
anyway, it’s always been too small
to reproduce
justice
“Your Vote, Your Choice”2
“in the one place where women still have the right to choose…”
“what happens in the booth, stays in the booth”
really?
now we’re going to smash the patriarchy
in secret
while making light of intimate partner violence?
so, our silence will protect us?
when we hide, we win?
“Harris is for they/them. Trump is for you”3
our “choice” on this one?
more silence
except for the sound of the bus
rolling over “Them”
“First they came for…” varieties of “them”4
on November 6, 2024, many Woke
sinking into
realization:
they’re coming for us all
this might be a good time
to speak,
dis-obey in advance,
choose
beyond “choice”
1 Duffy, Clare. 2024. “‘Your body, my choice’: Attacks on Women Surge on Social Media Following Election.”CNN, November 13. https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/11/business/your-body-my-choice-movement-election..
2 Vote Common Good. 2024. “Julia Roberts Reminds Us - Your Vote, Your Choice.” Video, 29 sec. https://youtu.be/FaCPck2qDhk?si=HCUjv9zGevDIYkBX.
3 “2024 Trump ‘Nonsense’ Ad.” Video, 39 sec. https://youtu.be/lhnHt1NB0M0?si=SrEcfssDw7Q_-lgM.
4 United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. n.d. “Martin Niemöller: First they Came For…” https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/martin-niemoeller-first-they-came-for-the-socialists.
Dec 28, 2024