To Be A Woman

 It's International Woman's Day and I wrote it a poem.

Reluctant Woman

To be a woman

is to fear dark parking lots

more than men do.

To have less right to personal space

than men do.

To be expected to please others

more than men are.

To bear pain and continue broken

more than men can.

To give pleasure without return

more than men will.

To be a woman in this room is uncomfortable

when people keep telling you things are already equal

with their hand on the small of your back

and their voice drowning out your words.

It's benign and acceptable, they say,

when he leans in too close.

He's just being friendly

when he looms over you with his larger paycheck

and a lifetime of subliminal messages at his back

telling him he was bold and strong

when you were told you were pretty and nice.

To be a woman is to sit with your legs together

and your voice quiet.

To be a woman is too much and not enough all at once.