They're bombing tehran for women's rights
the same men who bought girls on islands
the same men whose names are [REDACTED] in court documents
the same men who know the price of a thirteen-year-old
the same men who know what a girl sounds like when she stops screaming
the same men who know how long it takes
they say liberation
i say the smell of burning hair and textbooks and flesh
they say freedom
i say a mother digging through concrete with her bare hands
six hours
fingernails breaking one by one
first the left thumb
then the right index
then
then
then
finding her daughter's tooth
just the tooth
still bloody at the root
still warm
here's what liberation looks like:
a girl walking to school 7:42am
her backpack too heavy with books she'll never open
her friend making her laugh about something stupid
a boy's name maybe
or a teacher's hair
something that won't matter in sixteen minutes
by 7:58am she is
Text
meat
by 7:58am her mother is making a sound like
aaaaaahhhhhhh
no
not like that
like ah ah ah ah
like choking on her own tongue
like the sound before language
like the sound after language ends
like the sound a body makes when it tries to vomit up its own heart
like
by 7:58am there is a crater where she learned fractions
where she failed a test last week
where she kissed a girl behind the building once and felt something
where she was supposed to take an exam on thursday
where she
the shoe is pink with cartoon characters on it
size 4
small enough to fit in your palm
the mother holds it
Text
the shoe still has her foot in it
the mother tries to take the shoe off
the mother can't take the shoe off
the foot ends at the ankle
just
ends
in miami [REDACTED] paid USD 3,000 for a girl
her name was [REDACTED]
her age was 13
in washington [REDACTED] signed the bombing order
in tel aviv [REDACTED] built the guidance system
in london [REDACTED] sold the parts
in tehran a girl had a name
her mother said it was beautiful
her mother said it meant light
her mother said
her mother said
her mother can't say anything anymore
just that sound
ah ah ah
the same hands that signed the cheques for girls
signed the cheques for bombs
the same banks that processed payments for island visits
processed payments for weapons shipments
the same lawyers who protected the rapists
are protecting the war criminals
the same accountants who hid the money
are hiding the money
it's the same money
it's the same men
it's the same violence
it's the same system
just different continents
just different girls
just different ways of saying
your body isn't yours
your body is a resource
your body is extractable
your body is expendable
your body is
a girl in tehran had a body
her mother braided her hair that morning 7:15am
pulled it too tight
the girl complained
the mother said hold still
the mother's last words to her daughter were hold still
and now she'll never move again
and the mother can't stop moving
digging
digging
digging
the mother digs for six hours
finds the backpack first 8:34am
thinks: she's alive, she dropped it, she ran, she's hiding, she's scared, she's alive
digs more
finds the shoe 10:17am
thinks: she lost it running, she's barefoot somewhere, she's alive, she's bleeding maybe but alive
digs more
finds the foot 11:03am
still in the shoe
stops thinking
starts that sound again
ah ah ah
in the rubble they find:
8:34am: a backpack with her name written in marker
9:15am: a water bottle still half full
9:47am: a pencil case with a photo of her and her friend inside
10:17am: the shoe
10:52am: a piece of scalp with hair still attached
still in the braid
still tight
still how her mother did it
11:03am: the foot
11:34am: a small hand
just the hand
the mother knows the bracelet
the mother gave her that bracelet
the mother put it on her wrist that morning
12:16pm: her eyes
both of them
still open
still brown
still looking at something
no one will ever know what
maybe the ceiling
maybe her friend
maybe nothing
maybe the last thing she saw was light
just light
white
then
the girl's last thought was
[ ]
that's a lie
i don't know what her last thought was
no one does
no one will ever know
maybe it was about the test on thursday
maybe it was about the boy
maybe it was about the girl she kissed
maybe it was
mum
maybe it was
i don't want to die
maybe it was
why is it so bright
maybe it was
what's that sound
maybe there wasn't time for thought
maybe just
sound
light
heat
nothing
maybe she didn't even know
maybe it was so fast she
the men who did this are eating dinner tonight
maybe at the same restaurant you ate at last week
the men who did this are sleeping in beds tonight
maybe in the same hotel chain you stayed in
the men who did this are fucking their wives tonight
maybe thinking about the girl
maybe not
the men who did this are walking free
maybe past you on the street tomorrow
and you won't know
and you won't stop them
and you won't do anything
and neither will i
they say they're saving iranian women from oppression
by killing iranian girls before they grow breasts
before they get their first period
before they grow opinions
before they learn to say no
before they become women who might refuse men like them
before they grow up
here is what i know about bombs:
they don't discriminate between hijab and hair
they turn both into ash at 3,000 degrees celsius
here is what i know about men who liberate through violence:
they get hard on the power
not the freedom
the control
not the liberation
here is what i know about the men in the epstein files bombing iran:
they would fuck the corpse if it was still warm enough
and it is
for hours
it stays warm for hours
the same men who know what a girl costs
are deciding what a girl's life is worth
and both prices are cheaper than you think
USD 3,000 for the island girl
USD 0.0003 per iranian girl if you calculate cost-per-casualty of the bombing campaign
the iranian girl is cheaper
economies of scale
bulk discount on death
and tomorrow they'll bomb another school
and tomorrow another mother will dig
and tomorrow another small shoe
and tomorrow another foot still in it
and tomorrow another sound like ah ah ah
and tomorrow they'll call it progress
and tomorrow they'll call it necessary
and tomorrow they'll call it liberation
and tomorrow they'll call it feminism
the girl is dead
and her mother holds the shoe with the foot still in it
and tries to put it back on
tries to make her daughter whole again
one shoe
one foot
and opens her mouth to scream
and the scream won't come
and the scream is too big
and the scream would break her jaw
and the scream would shatter her teeth
and the scream would turn her inside out
and the scream
and...
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