Kelcie Scott, "For Victory"

Once I saw Victory

I never wanted to be Barbie again.

The plastic legs that can’t move

the stagnant pigment of her skin.

The blonde hair and pink lips

huge breasts and lack of hips,

the constantly pointed feet

that imply heels five inches high,

those vacant blue eyes and

don’t forget

a smile to suggest she never cries.

I buried my Barbies in the backyard at ten

and never went back again.

The Winged Victory of Samothrace

stood on a cliff side

in a victorious stride

to commemorate a naval battle so

incoming ships would be rattled,

warning enemies nearing her port

her people weren’t ones to thwart.

Her marble body at the stern of a ship

no hands, no grip,

firm footing, no slip,

beautiful from realistic hip to hip,

and that’s just the way she stood,

for people in the neighborhood,

and until her message was understood.

Victory stood in a way I knew I could.

I look at her and think,

“When did women stop being Gods?”

Like against all odds

we became nothing but mounds of flesh

and flaws

We decided not to utilize,

vitalize, or interpret vital signs - because at times- 

we brutalize, dehumanize, scrutinize,

often times to suicide

and the survivors, in my eyes

are left to simply compromise.

Take comfort in the repetitive line

“Things will get better, give it time”

For Victory

there is no consideration

of the devalued proclamation

written in cat calls and times stagnation

that’s the female damnation

that runs rampant through our nation.

It starts in the first glance

of her strong stance

the battles long ago won romance

because freedom is not worth

being left to chance.

Stepping forward, onward, outward,

as if no societal slurs are overheard

and this thing called sexism never occurred

because I don’t think anyone ever told her,

“You celebrate winning naval battles

like a girl.”

For Victory

there is no indignity

in the robe falling from her knee

not a sure sign of indecency

because this is what it means to be free

-naturally.

Her robe cascading like waves into the floor,

yet I know there’s nothing that she’s

“Asking for”

because you could call her a cheap score

or an easy whore

but you never looked for more

or went beyond that nearest shore.

So if she is saying something,

she’s not asking for anything

it’s your problem if she’s “tempting.”

She can hold the world

from wing to wing

because we all know it’s too heavy

for a string. 

For Victory nothing is limited

and I think it’s time that mindset is distributed.

The Winged Victory of Samothrace has no head

no dread on what’s said,

not mislead or misread

just a vision of possibilities 

and wings spread. 

She’s what’s missing in todays miss-representation

and inspires miss-behaving

because it’s time to become

Miss communication;

No revolution is silent. 

While we maybe miles away from

women asking for permission

I still wonder if this is a remission. 

Because if it’s me or him,

I’m paid less

and it’s my fault

if I’m raped for how I’m dressed.

Female is the negative to positive male

yet women used to be goddess  

on a massive scale

So I refuse-

to let time be an excuse

for my gender’s blind abuse

We have this moment to decide how

history is done,

because she has no head

the goddess of victory,

can be anyone.

I don’t have even a moment 

to consider being limited, weak, or 

worry about the societal constraints of femininity.

I’m busy sculpting the marble in me. 

I buried my Barbie’s and what society says

and stopped to think how I’m being lead. 

You grow this body,

you know this body

and nobody but you can own 

this body. 

So you can be quite, wait and sit

or you can get your ass up and do something with it. 

Despite those who reside in complacency,

I’m not one to let a white flag fly free

when I know there’s more fight left in me.

I can’t be the only one with a goddess in me, 

and I am so sick with passivity.

And maybe this time, someone will hear me.

“I am the marble for female rights

and unfraid of cliffside heights.

The battle ends with me

there is no rest

for Victory.”