Votes for Women

Meg Oldman

November 3, 2020

Four years ago,

In 2016,

To honor the suffragettes before me,

I wore white to the polls

As I voted for the promised First Woman President of the United States.

My three-year-old daughter helped me 

Push the electronic ballot button

And it felt like our world was continuing to improve. 

This year,

In 2020,

The centennial celebration of Women’s Suffrage

I don Black to the polls

To mourn what this country once was.

My seven-year-old daughter stays home - 

The first election she will miss - 

Because of a global pandemic mismanaged.

I hope

The last four years were an exception

And that this anniversary 

Does not leave us fighting

Harder than we have

For the next one hundred years.

I am a writer and professor of English at Tarleton State University. I have previously served as the Editor-in-Chief of The Bottom Shelf Review, the student literary magazine at Wilson College. I live in Stephenville, TX with my family.