“Stop! In The Name Of Love” — a poem by Phyllis Wax

November 9th, 2021

Phil Roeder, CC BY 2.0 /via Wikimedia Commons

Inside the United States Supreme Court, 2011

___

Stop! In the Name of Love

You Supremes in your long black robes
are at it again, sitting as though on Olympus, while we
soulfully wait to hear if you’re in tune with our needs.
We know You Can’t Hurry Love, but

we’re anxious to see your next decree.
Will you declare women child-like? Unable
to decide what is best for their own bodies,
their lives? Will you send them

in despair Up the Ladder
to the Roof, with troubles River Deep,
Mountain High? Do you really want them
Livin’ in Shame?

Your decision could drive desperate women
to use metal hangers or knitting needles
or to Try Something New. Don’t leave them
with Nothing but Heartaches.

You may not realize it, but even those who want
Baby Love, if they miscarry, will be at risk
of criminal charges, all while feeling
My World is Empty Without You.

Come on, Supremes. Help us out here.
Don’t allow states to criminalize women.
Don’t leave so many asking Where
Did (Y)Our Love Go?

___

Milwaukee poet Phyllis Wax believes some songs (or their titles) speak for her. Her work has appeared previously in Jerry Jazz Musician, as well as in many other journals and anthologies online and in print. She can be reached at [email protected].

Watch Diana Ross & The Supremes perform “I’m Living in Shame,” as seen on the Ed Sullivan Show on January 5, 1969