Me Too

mama said,

a man is the key to happiness.

to follow his grey bricked road,

no matter the danger signs,

to her planned out paradise.

i listened.

i followed.

trying not to give in,

to the flower infused whispers,

straying from the mushroom filled path.

jumping from conquest,

to conquest,

to prove

roses weren't distracting me.

i became so vulnerable,

letting them use me like a welcome mat,

in hopes that i'd be eternally saved.

but mama,

never warned her about the rules of a man's world.

14, 15, 18.

she realized,

each time,

that the blueprint her mother handed down

could restrict her voice,

pin her down

with broad tree trunk arms,

and colonize her own body.

without her wants.

without her permission.

mama didn't tell her,

that in a man's world,

being conquered by wolves

was little red's own fault.

that giving someone your heart,

guaranteed them keys to every other kingdom in your possession.

family,

friends,

lovers.

that when you crack your door

the slightest,

that it gave them permission

to make themselves at home.

she didn't tell her

that they'll envision you

in straight jackets,

every time they catch you

in awe of your secret thirst.

that in a man's world,

their regulations,

would leave her temple,

her thighs,

her flower,

scarred and bruised.

forever marked.

praying,

the next visitor would be more polite,

would have the decency to knock,

greet her,

instead of knocking down her door with a sledge hammer

as she tried to keep it closed.

that just maybe,

he would bother to learn the lay of the land

before he conquered her property.

she didn't tell her,

that she held the lease to her kingdom,

that she wasn't at fault

for trespassers on her land.

in a man's world

i was nothing more

than damaged goods,

a walking bulls eye,

who looked at girls

just a little too long.

that treatment

for my private,

exquisite palette

was dictated strokes,

in hopes to cure her,

to strip

her streams of perversions away.

mama,

didn't tell me

that in a man's world,

i didn't belong.