New Dress

She got a new dress last week

Bought it on clearance

From her favourite store

It's summertime

And the city is stifling

The heat so intense

It shimmers in the distance

Like a desert mirage

The new dress is light

Flowy and pretty

She puts it on and lets loose

A sigh of relief

As cool air from the fan

Brushes her bare legs

She stands there for a long moment

Allowing the air

To dry the sweat clinging

To the backs of her knees

She comes out of her comfortable reverie

And looks in the mirror

She minutely scrutinises the dress

Ensuring it's suitable

To be worn in public

She decides the dress is chaste

It's white

With a pattern of pink roses

Completely opaque

Even against the light

From the open window

Nothing can be seen beneath

Not too short, coming about to her knees

Even the neckline is high

No one would bother her

In a dress like this

It's laughable

She looks like a child

A dress like this

Would even pass

A school's ridiculous dress code

Surely no one would spare her

Even a passing glance

But she is wrong

As she stands on the crowded subway

She sees a man staring

You'd be prettier if you smiled

He says, grinning leeringly at her

She cringes away from him

Squeezes passed other commuters

And further down the train

She thinks she's escaped the harassment

But she feels a hand graze her butt

She moves away, thinking it was

Just an innocent mistake

But the man crowds in closer

And that was an unmistakable

Lingering squeeze

She lurches away from him

People move aside for her

And she presses her back

To the subway door

She puts her head down

Tries to read her book

Put on headphones

Anything to avoid

The stares

The remarks

The innocent brushes

The blatant grabs

But solicitious men

Won't leave her alone

Her day continues this way

Men everywhere

Like ravenous wolves

Who act as if

They've never seen a woman's legs

She's catcalled, grabbed, flirted with

Given unsolicited advice

About how she should behave

How she should look

How she should speak

When she chooses to ignore

She's often threatened

Verbally abused

So she pastes on a fake smile

Tries to be polite

But inside she's screaming

Screaming for help

She gets home and rips off

That accursed dress

That she had loved so much

When her day started

But she won't wear it again

The next day she wears

Jeans and a long-sleeved shirt

Completely covered

She suffers the heat

To avoid the harassment

But it doesn't change

Every day is the same

Nothing ever changes

Because the wrong people

Are trying to change