Renegade98 photo
By
Penn Kemp
The Invocation
for all those missing and murdered
Come say hello, women. While the veils are still
thin, we welcome your presence, no longer missed
but present, with all the disappeared you stand for.
As if you were in the prime of life now. As if
your daughters bloomed full-grown around you.
As if your mothers were crying delighted tears.
And if you were here to see what has changed
and what has not, would you hide your eyes in
shame for what has been done, what has not?
Come into the light and tell us how you are. As
if you have life beyond what we recall or remember
before this dark December claims its own again.
Penn Kemp
Penn Kemp is an activist Canadian poet, playwright and editor. Her latest works are two plays celebrating local hero and explorer, Teresa Harris, produced in 2017 and published by Playwrights Guild of Canada. Recent books include Barbaric Cultural Practice (quattrobooks.ca/books/barbaric-cultural-practice/) and two anthologies edited, Women and Multimedia and Performing Women (http://poets.ca/feministcaucus/livingarchives/). See www.pennkemp.weebly.com.