I refuse to allow anyone to make me hate,
Anyone to make me bitter,
Anyone to make me discriminate
against a sister or a brother race.

I refuse to allow any man to change
my opinions about myself,
about love, or about anyone else.

I refuse to allow any woman or man
to ruin my day, to claim my smile,
to declare my day of happiness has run its race,
has run its mile, is now over and done with.

I do not desire to be lusted after by another human.
I do not crave the attention of any man
who has yet to see me, yet to meet me,
yet to love me in the delicate and comical way that I deserve.

I do not itch to be touched.

The only hunger that I have is to find love
and to find it in its purest form,
And I refuse to settle for less than what’s best for me,
for that is something that only I know,
but something that others may see.

I refuse to settle for less.