THE CLOTHESLINE

By Patricia A Tokarz

Pinned shoulder to shoulder

T-Shirts extended in lines,

The Power of expression

Is what “THE CLOTHESLINE” defines.

Although each color symbolic,

The threads weave the same,

Each shirt a picture of violence,

Each shirt a witness to pain.

The color white a memorial

For a victim who died,

Simply, because of her gender

Precious life was denied.

Yellow signifies a victim

Embraced by batter and assault,

When intimacy turned into violence

As if loving was a fault.

Shades of pink, red, and orange

When passion turned into rape,

Denied the right to say “NO”

By either stranger, or date.

The blue and green bear nightmares,

When a child of incest and misuse

Was forced not to tell the “SECRETS”

Endured from physical and sexual abuse.

See the beautiful shades of lavender

To the one not afraid to voice,

A different sexual orientation

Condemned, when in public made the choice.

In the beginning they first choose the color,

Then allowing pain to flow from inside,

Using buttons, bows, paints, and prose

Self—expression no longer denied.

As you walk through the line of color,

Emotional pain may fill your heart,

But to the victim this personal creation

Permits an inner healing to start.

Pinned shoulder to shoulder

T-Shirts extended in lines,

The power of expression

Is what “THE CLOTHESLINE” defines.

SOROPTIMIST INTERNATIONAL, NORTHEASTERN REGION 4/95

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