Diane Elayne Dees
Stockholm Syndrome
White woman, what is wrong with you?
You are Seligman’s dogs, no longer able
to see the obvious exit from a life filled
with constant jolts of oppression,
insult and control. You don’t even notice
oppression, insult and control anymore,
and if you do, you distract yourself
with rationalizations, deadlines, soccer
leagues, and yoga classes. Look around,
white woman: Others who are oppressed,
unable to stand it anymore, fight back.
They demand to be heard, and they demand
change. Look around some more; you’ll see
that even others who look like you fight back.
We are everywhere, running for office,
filing lawsuits, confronting sexist spouses,
bosses and institutions, and refusing to allow
the poison of oppression to be injected
into the cells of our children. When the Scary
Blackberry Kool-Aid is passed to us,
we Just Say No. You, on the other hand,
protect and defend your oppressors
at every turn, buy their products,
and even campaign and vote for them.
White woman, what is wrong with you?
Diane Elayne Dees is the author of I Can’t Recall Exactly When I Died (Clare Songbirds Publishing House, forthcoming), and another chapbook, Coronary Truth (Kelsay Books, forthcoming). Her poems have appeared in The New Verse News, Better Than Starbucks, Amethyst Review, and EcoTheo Review, among other journals, as well as in the anthologies Hurricane Blues: Poems about Katrina and Rita (Southeast Missouri State Univ Press, 2006), edited by Philip C. Kolin and Susan Swartwout; American Society: What Poets See (FutureCycle Press, 2012), edited by David Chorlton and Robert S. King; and A Walk with Nature: Poetic Encounters that Nourish the Soul ( University Professors Press, 2019), edited by Michael Moat, Derrick Sebree, Gina Subia Belton, and Louis Hoffman. Dees also publishes Women Who Serve, a blog that delivers news and commentary on women’s professional tennis throughout the world. Her author blog is Diane Elayne Dees: Poet and Writer-at-Large.
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