Playing Power

Wow.

Do I stick around long enough 

playing the game by the rules 

so I can come to a position of power 

to change the game?

Or is this what everyone says 

before they fall slave to the system

Victim when disadvantaged, 

blind and deaf when privileged

What if I forget about the disadvantaged 

when I climb to the level of the privileged

What if I forget about me 

and become the one who oppresses me?

How to stay in the game long enough 

so I can kick the key players out

And is it even worth it?

Why do the disadvantaged have to take workshops

to learn how to fit in the world of the privileged

And when the privileged is suggested to do the same, 

they’re immediately offended

Why do I have to hide my womanhood 

and learn how to be a man

To be able to survive in a system 

where I’m maybe allowed to do less than I can

I'm not supposed to show emotions

Because the game is pretending

I'm not supposed to be honest 

Because the game is bluffing

I'm not supposed to contradict

Because the game is controlling

But I can get organized

I can gather enough of me

To maybe make the privileged pity us enough

So they make a change

Gotta be strategic

Why don’t men learn how to think like a woman

Instead we have to learn competition

In a world where there’s more than enough of it

And not one drop of compassion

Why can’t I be soft and loving

And still be good at what I do

Logic over emotion

Competition over cooperation

Illusion over transparency

Oppressor over the oppressed

Oppressor over all the rest

I'm torn between my desire to change

And my fear of standing out

Is it worth it?

And am I good enough to make the change

Or do I just need to keep going

Why do I have to go with it though

Or why do I have to decide

if I keep complaining

And finding all the reasons to leave

Or if I become a man 

So I can give the women after me

The chance to be themselves

Why don’t they see our strengths

Instead, we have to go with their primitive ways

Or stay quiet when we know better

While they’re puffing up their feathers

Showing each other who’s got the biggest dick

Ah, fuck this shit, really. 

But again, then, nothing changes.

We need just the right amount of 

understanding and ration, 

But with rightly placed anger and negation

We say no, we say no, we say no,

To not being given the stage

We get up there and take it

And make them listen

Instead of leaving them to themselves

Living happily in their bubble

Of privilege and ignorance

If no one screams

No one hears

Stop waiting for someone to come

Realize the gem inside you

See you in ways you cannot

like a hero to save you

You are your own fucking savior

Go save yourself

And check your privilege

And whenever you have the luxury to

Change the rules of the game

So there is less to change

For the ones next in your steps. 

If you let them convince you 

That your strengths are weaknesses

You can only become someone else 

And lose yourself in an empty shell

So whenever you have the luxury

Scream from the top of your lungs

That you are not one to undermine

And you are not one to override

And whenever you have the luxury

Listen to the whispers of the others

In the silence and the space your scream granted you

So they don’t have to tear their lungs

When their time comes

And they can just be themselves

And win the game in however shape they come. 

Because you only win when everyone wins,

Something the oppressor does not understand,

As long as there is the oppressed, 

We will all lose at the end.