RIGHT HERE

I could have been right there with you
Tossing my Veil in the wind
Running in the mist of war
Smiling at my liberation
I could have torched my brassiere
Danced and cheered
For deliverance by a bonfire
But instead I am constructing new
ways to create miracles
And asking Victorya to keep my secret

I could have been right there with you
Covered from head to toe
Stoned to death for revealing an ankle
But I am right here with you raised on
Vogue and Elle magazines
Chastised because my skirt falls two
inches above my knee

I could have been right there with you
Property of another hidden away
unable to go out alone
But I am right here with you a
commodity bought and sold
An accessory matching well with
expensive cars and gold

I could have been right there with you
One of four wives
But I am right here with you
One of four "wifeys"
Living in poverty
Used and discarded
Bombarded with rhetoric of
my freedom

I could have had my femininity cut
from me
And my womb sewn shut
I could have had a belt of armor
strapped
And locked around my pelvis
but I mutilate my body thousands
of times a year
To fit into a plastic mold
And chastity was stolen from me
when I was just a child

I could have stood scantily clad
In a case of glass
A specimen in a human zoo

Turned European tourist attraction
But I am right here
harassing me is just a minor infraction

I could have been right there with you
Beaten and raped
But I am right here with you
Because date rape is impossible to
prove
Police officers don't get involved
with domestic disputes

I could have been burned alive at a
stake
For practicing an ancient ritual

I could have been the source of all evil
Bringing forth doom by opening a box
Femininity plus curiosity
killed humanity
And a bite of fruit
Constitutes an eternity of inequality

I could have been your temptress
harlot or jezebel
Instead I am your trifling ho and
aggressive bitch
With casting-couch and glass-ceiling
dreams
And right here things aren't as good
as it seems

See a sip of Coca-Cola
And a shopping spree won't make
you free
And the Taliban
Ain't the only villain
Patriarchy
Reigns across all terrain
And dominates globally
And on television
women's lib gets set back every hour
on the hour
Contrary to Western propaganda
My sisters we are all in this together
As you embark on your endeavor
To reclaim what was already yours

I am sending this right there to you
To let you know
I am right here with you