We Will Not Be Deodorised
from Pétroleuse
© Steph Pike, 2016

take your shackles, your chains
your violence, your rape
we will not be bound
by your laws, your lies
your prejudice, your expectations
your science, your biology
your definitions of who we should be
we create our own lives, our own worlds
we make solid our own outlandish dreams
we are free

take your fashion, your body fascism
your plucking and shaving
your surgery, your plastification
take your perfumed pants
your intimate wipes
your scented sanitary wear
we rejoice in fat and muscle and hair
we stink of blood and sweat and skin
we will not be deodorised
we reek of the ocean deep hot hunger of our lovers' cunts
we will not smell of the sterile chemistry of your misogyny

you shoot us, sedate us
imprison us, terrorise us
refuse to educate us
but still we speak out
still we sing out
still we shout out
we will not be silenced
we are unquiet
across centuries
across borders
we rise up
we fight back
we are dirty
we are brave
we are dangerous
we are pussies and we riot