They told me to sit small,
legs crossed like folded paper,
voice tucked behind my teeth
as if silence were a virtue.
Cover up
Because if you don’t
It’s your fault
Your fault for their actions
If you ask for help
It never works
“He has a bright future”
If you need it to stop
Need to make a change
You can’t
It’s your body
But it’s their choice
Your skin, a weapon
turned on yourself
distracting, disgusting
You would never ask the same of a man
People ask
Man or bear
The answer may seem obvious to them
But no
Bear
Bear
Always bear
Because if it were a man
It would be so much worse
A man in a room of women
Ecstatic and elated
A woman in a room of men
Terrified and petrified
My shoulders?
Do they distract you
How about the bulge in your pants?
That distracts me
But I can’t say that
That’s unacceptable and awkward
So for once
Maybe instead of protection
Education would be the way to go
Because the answer should never be bear