Constantly I must take off the hairpins, the embroidered shirts, and the lint skirts. I must sit on the wooden stool and unbraid my hair, then proceed to cut it short. I must be able to live without them: the conditioning
–their idea of womanhood(genderhood)

                   Every once in while I must banish them: to know
I can live without them; they are not me ( all those  ideas, all that heavy jewelry)
—I am free; I do not weigh