{"id":15880,"date":"2021-09-30T14:50:49","date_gmt":"2021-09-30T14:50:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artjournalstg.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=15880"},"modified":"2021-09-30T14:50:51","modified_gmt":"2021-09-30T14:50:51","slug":"one-day-i-will-make-a-mace-but-for-now-i-have-a-mouth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/artjournal.collegeart.org\/?p=15880","title":{"rendered":"One day I will make a mace, but for now I have a mouth"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Content Note: This artist project includes descriptions of sexual violence and harassment.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Animated
Elana Mann, Evil Mouth Talisman<\/i>, 2021 (artwork \u00a9 Elana Mann; produced in collaboration with Colleen Corcoran<\/a>) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Ouroboros<\/strong>
(For Andrew Cuomo)
 
I draw a line and then another.
 
You know its borders, its curves, its boundaries. I don\u2019t need to remind you, \u201cNo.\u201d
 
I am just like any other\u2014
I try to put people at ease.
I try to make them smile.
I try to connect with them.
 
On occasion I do slip and say \u201cfuckhead,\u201d \u201casshole\u201d and \u201cewww\u201d when my employer licks his lips and calls me \u201csexy,\u201d when my professor propositions me, when a naked stranger sneaks into my bed and forcibly tries to have sex with me.
I am luckier than most because I escape.
 
It\u2019s the same old boring story.
My lines have been crissed and crossed like a million others.
 
I heard the things they said to justify their actions and I wish I could unhear them.
Their words like sharp tacks, engraving themselves into our collective memory.
 
I look to the snake, forever shedding its skin, trying a new identity, a new look, a new job.
 
I scratch and seethe,
I breathe,
I shake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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