I wonder
would we have all of this tragedy
if society
did not enforce its unforgiving constructs of gender upon us
My parents did not force it upon me
but
I felt it in society
Don’t do this, don’t do that,
sit like a girl, cross your legs,
Oh, but not too much
Open them enough
so that the boys will like you
But not too much
Or they’ll call you a slut and shame you
Only boys can be rough
or love women
or be strong
And girls must wear skirts
and play nice
Don’t think twice
just do
and be
and talk
how they want you too
It was appealing to this ideal that ruined me
I was lost in notions of fitting in
when I was born to stand out
But the pressures put on girls don’t end when we become women
No
They become so much harder
more insidious and insistent
until we become shadows of our own souls
A mere memory of the women we could be
a pale wisp of potential
a feeble ghost struggling to stand in a glaring spotlight
Rise now, dear ones
Cling to the strength that stirs inside you
You are not their expectations or ideals
You were not born to comply
To become a representation of some shallow, plastic ‘beauty’
You are wild and gentle
fierce and fascinating
strong and soft
The live-givers of the world
Sisters and star-seedlings bringing light
to a dark sky
Rise now, dear ones
Like the sun greeting the dawn
Like the moon greeting the stars
Because despite what the world may say
your potential
awaits you.