They Say...

They say that Pandora was too curious and couldn’t do as Zeus told her and that’s why she opened the box unleashing all the world’s evils.

They say that Eve was fooled by the serpent and that’s why she disobeyed God and ate the apple.

They say that Casandra spoke in riddles and that’s why no one believed her when she warned of future events.

They say that Athena, the goddess of wisdom, was not born from a woman but sprang from the head of Zeus.

They say that witches cause the crops to fail, the babies to die in their cribs, the men to be unfaithful to their wives.

They say that Hillary Clinton spoke too shrilly so nobody could stand to listen.

They say that Kamala Harris laughed too easily and could not be taken seriously.

They say that men should be allowed to be men and women should get in line.

I ask why Zeus would collect all the evil and put it in a box instead of destroying it?

I ask why seeking knowledge is a crime and why if God didn’t want her to eat the apple did he plant the tree?

I ask why they didn’t try to decipher the riddles, if they were ever riddles, after the first one came true?

I ask why they think only a man’s brain could create wisdom? And if that were true why did he give it the form of a woman?

I ask how witches could be so powerful to blight the crops and so evil as to kill the babies and still so seductive to men?

I ask if Hillary was only shrill because hearing the truth hurt their ears?

I ask if Kamala laughing was a threat because they want us to be miserable?

I ask if a man thinks I should get behind him in line, why does he think he is capable of leading me anywhere? If he cannot destroy evil, but keeps it in a box just in case, if he hoards knowledge and doesn’t allow anyone else to share, if he cannot decipher a simple riddle, if he has no idea where wisdom springs from, if he can be seduced by evil, if he refuses to listen to truth or to laughter…if he is incapable of those things, why should I follow him anywhere?

I say those stories are old and tired and we need new ones.