Shut Up and We’ll Be Good to You (Koraly Dimitriadis)

Shut Up and We’ll Be Good to You

Shut up and we’ll be good to you
Be good and we’ll love you
We’ll tell powerful people about your book
But only if we like what we see

Shut up and we’ll give you a spot on our podcast
Be good and we’ll publish your book
Put your books in our shop windows
Add a positive review to our newspaper
Invite you to our writers’ festivals
But only if you swallow our narrative
& feed it back to us on our silver spoon

Say whatever we want you to say
Act exactly how we want you to act
Perhaps we’ll let you through our gates
If you’re our correct brand of feminist 

Wait till you see what’s in store for you
If you subscribe to our politics and ideology 
We’ll steal your story without a second glance 
While simultaneously sending you a rejection 
Requesting you to please resubmit your work
At a much later date

We’ll mince your words in with our pretentiousness
wrap it in a PhD and present it to the world 
& nobody will know the difference
Because the world is all plastic 
Haven’t you noticed yet? Lol   

Money, money, money
But don’t you worry
We’ll allow you to cry on our shoulder
Before referring you to the nearest 
Suicide prevention helpline
Because we really do care!

But

Expect to be snubbed if you don’t abide
Expect to be bullied if you don’t collude
Expect to have an army of 
Abbie Chatfield-Clementine Ford-brainwashed feminists
& politically correct pompous PhD scholars 
Stealthily after you, plotting in WhatsApp groups
If you dare to have a brain that thinks for itself 

Expect your social media to be reported for misinformation
Expect a torrent of abuse
Personal attacks on your hair, age, status
Patronising ‘pick me’ taunts
If you call out behaviour you think is questionable

This is a bloodbath remember, women are dying
And we are trying to save them
Art is dying, people are being blown up
So we must eliminate anyone who’s part of the problem
And that problem will be you, if you dare challenge our authority 
Oh sorry, you already did – too late! 
(Our lists are decades long, we are very thorough!)

Nobody wants to hear what you have to say
Unless it’s spoken our way
Contains the correct message
Is delivered at the right time, in the right way

Get it? Got it. Good.

Crawl up our backsides
Beg for our forgiveness
& maybe then we might forgive your transgressions
But only after we laugh at you / gossip behind your back 
& then reject you (of course lol)  
Because sorry! 
There’s no second chances, babe xxxx

The Prize

Just because she won the prize
Doesn’t mean she deserves it
Doesn’t mean she’s real
All the good ones know she’s a fake
People come and tell me all the time
How she bullies, sidelines and exploits
I’ve had firsthand experience too
That’s how these systems work
They give it to their friends
Or where they will gain a benefit
It’s transactional
I try not to get angry anymore
or punch metaphorical walls
Even though inside I’m fuming
Melting in despair
I have to believe karma exists
That good rises to the surface
in the end
I have to