On Morality’s Many Prepositions and Propositions / We Are Committed to Resist and to Persist

Written to commit Mona Eltahawy’s words and work to memory

We are

More Than what’s

on/of/in

our beds
& the hues
on our heads

More Than what’s

between/amongst/within

our limbs
& the language
of our hymns

More Than what’s

in/under/behind

what he
& the patriarchy
may have said

More Than what’s

/ calculated / quantified
documented / described
/ demanded / commanded
conscripted / restricted
/ prescribed / proscribed

in.of.on.under

ideas

cloths

coverings

outings

triggers

policing

scarves

scoffs

hair

hues

fabrics

dues

& locks

in worldwide

interconnected blocks

/ locks

linger in layers

laid long ago

/ clocks

rattle in lyrics

sung long ago

we shall resist

/ reclaim (our bodies,

our rights)

& persist (or bodies,

our fights)

— not simply

co-exist

for we are More

– More Than

About the Poem

After listening to an interview with Mona Eltahawy on The Takeaway, her words “We are more than” and her work on its many applications have lingered in/of/on my head. In Headscarves and Hymens: Why the Middle East Needs a Sexual Revolution, Eltahawy writes that “we are more than what’s on our heads and we are more than what is between our legs”. I compiled this piece together to commit Mona Eltahawy’s work and words to memory.

About the Author

Jen Schneider is an educator who lives, works, and writes in small spaces throughout Pennsylvania.

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