FOR THE MEN

In Honour of Renee Nicole Good

This is for the men

Not the men who respect us
Not the men who defend us
Not the men who stand with us
Not the men who protect us

Not all men – just you

You cling to power like a crutch
Cruelty gives you a rush
You spout “tradition” when you mean submission
And kill women like Renee Nicole Good 

You’re afraid of our autonomy
Like your leader, you treat us like property
You take what you want, and sell us for parts
And kill women like Renee Nicole Good 

You protect him while preaching purity 
While he rapes and strips girls of their dignity
You’re serving a tyrant by kidnapping migrants
And killing women like Renee Nicole Good 

When you’re no longer useful, he’ll shun you
Like the trash that he is, he’ll discard you
And you’ll be the one left to pay for your crimes
Like killing Renee Nicole Good

It’s pathetic you can’t comprehend
You know nothing about being a man
They don’t mistake dominance for strength
Or kill women like Renee Nicole Good

We march for the mothers you kill
You’ll pay for the blood you spill
And don’t think your mask will protect you
When you kill women like Renee Nicole Good

We serve truth, while you serve a liar
We show mercy, while you hate for hire
We stand between you and those you abuse
But you still killed Renee Nicole Good

What will you tell your own daughter 
When she asks why you shot someone’s mother
Her six-year-old orphaned, with no arms to hold him
Why you killed Renee Nicole Good

I wonder what you will do
One day, it could happen to you
If they kill your own daughter, your wife, or your mother
The way you killed Renee Nicole Good

Only then will you understand 
Her pain didn’t make you a man
You’ll scream but it’ll be too late 
Like it was for Renee Nicole Good

When did you trade your humanity
For hate, propaganda, and cruelty
Bullies like you need an enemy
You chose Renee Nicole Good

So much for rounding up criminals
The lies and gaslighting are pitiful
It’s never been about gangs or drugs
Who’ll be next after Renee Nicole Good

For you I have only one question
Why you pimped out your soul for a felon
One day when you look in your daughter’s eyes
Will you see Renee Nicole Good?

_____________________________________________

Micki Findlay – Author, Poet, Human Rights Activist, Elbows Up Van Isle Organizer