13 Ways of Looking at Wicked
By Suzanne Edison
All words in italics come from at least one federal agency’s list of
“woke” terms that need to be avoided—NYTimes, 11 March 2025
I.
Born in the garden, a sanctuary. No barriers and all beings had a sense of belonging.
II.
Assigned at birth, her gender, female. Though perhaps transgender . . . you know, Adam’s rib, etc.
III.
Her name, Eve, on the cusp of . . . with Hebrew roots, signified life. Oh, but the trauma
IV.
of knowledge, as if pregnant with privilege, was deemed a disability
V.
warranting exclusion.
VI.
Her clean energy sex with Adam, i.e. people + uterus = key populations + a brimming bag of pronouns
VII.
increased diversity. She wandered. An immigrant. Was she Black or brown?
VIII.
Racial identity indeterminate. Equal opportunity victims declare her cultural heritage colorless, as this page.
IX.
(From a scientific perspective, white (light) is all-inclusive of the diverse colors of the visible spectrum.)
X.
Science, expendable, as the Gulf of Mexico—a victim of brain disparity
XI.
from undervalued, biologically male, stereotypes, prolific as climate crises.
XII.
These systemic prostitutes advocate
XIII.
altars to oppression.
Suzanne Edison’s book, Since the House Is Burning, was published by MoonPath Press in 2022. Her poetry can be found in The Missouri Review, Verse Daily, Whale Road Review, Lily Poetry Review, MER, and SWWIM Daily. Her poetry had also been recognized as finalists in Naugatuck River Review and RockPaperPoems. She lives in Seattle, and her website is at www.seedison.com.
Photo credit: Terence Faircloth via a Creative Commons license.
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