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Adrienne Jun 2019
Walking to the bathroom in Lowe's.
The Lighting Aisle.
A man rounds the corner,
White-haired, Caucasian
"Whoa, how you doin'?"

Stunned, I barely register,
but turn my eyes down and hurry on.

Only later do I remember
the way his eyes traveled my body,
the way his words felt
like I felt nothing at all
Only later do I process,
what a disgusting perv!

At an art festival that night
I find myself watching every man around me
Panicking in a pizza place bathroom

Later, thinking on it,
I am angry.
I should have screamed and made a fuss
but I turned my eyes down and hurried on.
Why am I always silent when the time comes?
Adrienne Jun 2019
the sunlight hits her glasses
just right
her brown hair escapes from its braid.
she jumps energetically off
her bike

she's a
wild girl,
not afraid to be herself

she'll climb a tree
and scrape her knee,
but she goes higher,
faster,
longer,
stronger,
she's a
wild girl
Adrienne Jun 2019
Sixth grade, middle school,
That's when it begins
The competition, the bullying,
Trying to fit in,

Trying to fit in
But standing out all the same
Trying to belong,
But left out of everything
Their words begin to sink in
Like seeds,
They breed self conciousness
She longs for the 'me'
She used to be
The one with self-esteem

But she's let their words define her
They bind her, hold her, keep her
Blind, unable to see
The beauty on the inside
On the outside, on her tear-washed face

She keeps it bottled up inside
Afraid to tell anyone,
She thinks she's the reason why
But the reason she feels so dark inside isn't her.
Adrienne Jun 2019
So what if girls exceed your expectations?
Why do we have to dress 'holy'
in skirts that give us limitations?
We have chests. We have hips.
How long we have to apologize
for the features that God gave us?
Why are our girls
Beat down, held back,
So all the men can look greater?
Does it make them feel powerful
To push her down, sedate her?
Does it make them feel powerful
To keep their women
As second-class citizens?
Dress codes: knees covered.
Social code: Seen, not heard.
Aren't we the reason you're all here?
Why do you make her dim her strengths
For all the men to shine brighter?

If girls have to dress 'holy'
Because boys 'can't control themselves',
Why not teach the boys
to keep their hands where they belong?
Adrienne Jun 2019
I'm enough because
I don't need to find my identity
within others' words.
I'm enough because
God says I am.
Adrienne Jun 2019
i breathe
bubbles rise
Underwater is
Silent can't hear
little kids scream and splash
Peaceful
my hair flows around my head
in rolling auburn ways
no goggles,
chlorine stings my open eyes
I could stay Forever
in this vivid blue expanse
peaceful, blurry, silent
my lungs burn
and i'm reminded
of my human need for oxygen
feet push with a crack
off pristine off-white concrete
shimmering with Sunlight patterns
I gasp
breath fills my lungs
peace, still lingering
is ruptured by a Kid
with a Water Gun

— The End —