Reclamation Spell
Chelsea Fanning
Let the muddy waters pour out your mouth in a mineral hum . Regurgitate each name that ’ s been aimed at us :
Skank , snake , diva , cougar , whore .
Each name hurled like a spear , injected like a poisoned needle , spoon-fed to little girls until they ’ re taught to feel shame .
Bitch , ditz , spinster , tease , hag .
Let the muddy waters monsoon out your lips until the rains run clear again . Until each name is reclaimed , in the names of every woman .
Shrew , cunt , slut , prude , nag .
Draw them with pyre sticks , carve them in ritual stones , rip them from ancestral roots , re-form them from all our bones .