To All the Women Who Came Before

Dignity, purity, hope, Entwined in a delicate rose. These are the colours which hold The futures of all women to come. Run, run, run, To the Free Trade Hall we run, Eyes bright, souls lifted, the taste Of excitement on the tip of our tongues. Suff-ra-gette, Was the name they gave us, scribbled In every single newspaper, as if to say "THESE WOMEN ARE TROUBLE." Emm-el-ine Pankhurst, her name. Equality, her goal. The union, her child. The cause, her pride. The name "SUFFRAGETTE" became our own. Man-che-ster, Where it all began. Where The fires of change lit and stoked and Spread their message in the dangerous smoke. Da-vi-son. Whatever became of poor Emily? I heard It was she whose body trampled Beneath the hooves of the King's horse. Im-prison-ment. Prison, the only place strong enough To handle our emblazoned spirit. And so They dampen it with poison down our throats. One hun-dred Years passed since our victory. I am young but their strength runs through me. My present is the history they endured. To the women who came before, We continue on your notion. After all, it's "deeds, not words" Which set the change in motion.