Why They Can’t Say Her Name
You might’ve heard two words
about a titan
unburdened
who stood tall as Man should
Maybe you read of a hero who rose
to the challenge, not to the chalice,
who refused any and all claims
to her blood
How are we women, not set ablaze?
The only good philosopher
in 2400 years
and we don’t dare whisper her name?
for fear of sounding too masculine
too capitalist too…what?
Selfish?
Who taught us that was wrong anyway.
She gave us plain language
for self-love when
every man before her
gave us metaphors
and mind games
In metaphysics, I learned
all the tropes and templates
and never once found out
what reality was made of
And then Rand said,
Let us use mind
because existence is
regardless if I,
or anybody realizes it
She said existence exists
and we are conscious of it
As a species, We are the most
remarkable on our planet
As individuals, We are the only
divinity we know
To hear that shouldn’t hurt our ego
Yet we’re so used to taking
our own name in vain.
She said life is the good
and virtue is the means
by which we maintain it
She said Happiness is
value
time
She proved! free will is a given: As in,
Make up your own damn mind!
Determinism only
waltzes in, hand in hand
with coercion: As in,
a bible or baton
She said survival requires reason
We trade our ideas, our labor, and our time
For all who would pull the wool over our pride
She showed us how to flip the script
flip the bird, flip the table
We were taught to grovel
She showed us how to shrug
#Philosophy #Life #Poetry #Canadianpoet
Photo by Siddhant Kumar on Unsplash