She Had Her Own Reasons

I am constructing “She Had Her Own Reason” out of hundreds of sentences I encounter in the Watcher Files that begin with the word she. Eventually, this will comprise a drawer of copper cards, a poetic alternative to the meticulous index cards the police investigators kept on activists.

The following is the excerpt of She Had Her Own Reasons that I read on OPB’s Think Out Loud Thursday, Oct 24.

She had her own reason for participating

She also went to night school

She always gets kidded about being a female mechanic at the auto parts shop

She emerged as a major figure in the feminist movement

She is believed to be a Lesbian

She knows of no New York political figures to whom she would have been writing at the age of 17

She couldn’t imagine sitting behind a desk all day

She is still learning

She nurtures her children by trying to save the world from nuclear extinction

She pleaded guilty to the charge strictly on the advice of her court-appointed attorney

She says, I think I was socialized into a more traditional job

She suffered a concussion

She thought it was just a friendly visit

She thought she had something better

She used to be resorts editor for Golf Digest Magazine

She was a co-founder of Portland Women Strike for Peace

She was always hunched over the machine

She was beaten regularly for at least four years

She was disappointed by the fact she helped them form their structure, and then they wouldn’t allow her to become a member

She was feeling so damned tired

She became shop chairman of her union

She was one of 13 women who fasted 37 days on behalf of the ERA

She worked as a writer

She works as a bartender

She would never be convinced

She’s had a few humorous incidents

She’s only as rich as the poorest of the poor

She’s studying art history, painting, self defense, and Aikido

-Kaia Sand

source: Police Investigative Files, City of Portland Archives

Teaching link: http://kaiasand.net/hammer-a-poem/