A Woman's Struggle

A girl goes to school in the longest shorts her mom could find

She’s sent home because boys just can’t control their own minds

She’s told her body is too provocative at too young an age

They tell her to just cover up and don’t give in to the rage

Don’t get angry at being stifled for the benefit of others

Don’t try to viciously murder the society that smothers

The society that teaches young girls to be ashamed of  their bodies

That teaches young boys that it’s okay to lose control

That the bodies of young girls are to blame for their failure

Because everyone knows that “boys will be boys”

A young woman walks home alone from a party, too early for the sun

She doesn’t know it, but she’s being followed by a strange man

If she knew, she might not have taken that shortcut there

Because the second she steps into that alley, he’ll grab her

He’ll tackle her to the ground, keeping her trapped with his weight

She’ll struggle but he’ll win, he’ll get what he wants, you just wait

He’ll leave her lying there afterwards, clothes torn and bleeding

If she’s even brave enough to tell anyone, they’ll say it was her fault

They’ll tell her “We’re sorry. Maybe next time you should dress differently”

As if she was “asking for it” by the clothes that she wore

A mother teaches her daughter how to survive in today’s world

She tells her that men will hurt her and leave her out in the cold

She raises her to be strong, to not make the same mistakes

This young woman knows it doesn’t take much to make a heart break

She knows there are consequences for being too naive

From her experience with those who grab her and use her and leave

From those times in school where the teachers humiliated her

She tells her daughter these stories so that she can learn

and so that she won’t be surprised when they happen to her