“To keep back the cold”

By Stephanie Gilmore

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-with mil gracias to Cherríe Moraga

 

To keep back the cold

I pull up the blankets

and seek the warmth of her body.

 

Always the warmth of her body.

Even when I’m not cold.

Even when I don’t love her.

 

Because I am afraid of being alone, of being cold.

 

So I fall

In love

With love

I move with her

to her

for her…

all.

for.

her.

 

Forgetting that I, too, am a warm body.

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Stephanie Gilmore is an antiracist queer feminist scholar-activist who engages activism through education and writing. She facilitates workshops on contemporary and historical feminist activism, sexual violence, and coalition building. She is the author of numerous scholarly and popular articles as well as two books (Feminist Coalitions: Historical Perspectives on Second-Wave Feminism in the United States, 2008 and Groundswell: Grassroots Feminist Activism in Post War America, 2012). She is a member of the editorial collective for Feminist Studies and a board member for the Committee of LGBT Historians. She welcomes the opportunity to engage with and listen to people, and you can connect with her via LinkedIn.