The sky apologizes to Monica Lewinsky
for not catching her fast enough;
for not forming a comfort cloud cushion
for her to land upon.
Left her shrieking.
Left her wailing.
Left her plummeting
and plummeting
and plummeting.

I am ten years old
in Jenna Saadeh's basement
tucked into sleeping bag,
pressed between two giggling bodies,
eyes glued to television
where Saturday Night Live
parades around a twenty-two year old girl
in a spotlight
she did not wish conjured,
laughter littering the backdrop.

Twenty years later,
Monica Lewinsky’s name is still the butt of the joke.

While Bill Clinton swaggers
into camera's view,
is applauded just for being there,
for having some good sense about him.
What a supportive husband.
What a good man.

The ocean apologizes to Monica Lewinsky
for mounting a living funeral
for yet another young woman
tricked into trusting a trickster,
into falling for the wolf,
all snarl and chew.

What a reminder.
That a man can thirst for infidelity,
crave bread from other tables,
hunger his family away
and still be welcomed by the world
with loving arms.
All while the world calls his wife
crazy shrew.
All while calling his ex-intern
deserved slut.

… But ….

Did you know Monica Lewinsky
is now an advisor
for an anti-bullying organization?
Has a masters in social psychology?
Speaks out against cyberbullying?
Speaks out about her PTSD?
Speaks out of how, though consensual,
there is something to be said of
a man twenty-seven years her senior
who was also the fucking president
making a move on his employee
and how that is the utmost definition of
“abuse of power.”

Did you know
that Monica Lewinsky could not
give a fuck about what you think of her?

In a 2004 interview she stated,
“I was the buffet,
and he just couldn't resist the dessert.”

I think what she also meant was:

Women are nothing if not
the sky,
the oceans,
the mountains.
Something so magnificent
men are desperate to claim.
Unconquerable miracles
men must plant a flagpole in.
Give us new names.
Say they are the first to touch our soil.
Say it’s not their fault
as they slowly ruin us,
raking their hands over
every inch of our landscapes.

The earth apologizes to Monica Lewinsky.
The earth apologizes to Anita Hill.
To Ashley Judd. To Zoe Quinn. To Janet Jackson.
To Jessica Stoyadinovic.
To Dr. Christine Blasey Ford.
To every woman made mockery.
To every girl who did not crumble
as the world crafted her into

a lie,
a threat,
a punchline.