Girlhood

When I was a child I fought and fought with my father

I wanted to go down the street

Around the corner

Just the next street over!

And a stern "no" was always the response.

I would beg and plead.

I would get cry and scream.

And my father would get frantic as well

He could see the resilience in me.

He sat me down at the end of each tantrum

Spoke to me on my level

Spoke to me with fear in his eyes, fear dripping from his lips.

"You can be the fastest

The smartest

The strongest

You can be better than any man - any place

But there will still be people out there who want to hurt you

Just for taking up space.

I refused to accept this

It just could not be.

How was I supposed to grow up

In a world that hated me?

So I ignored all of his warnings

I ran wild and I ran free

Up the block

Cutting corners

Two, three, even four streets over.

I got lucky, little me.

I made it to 10

Made it to 12

Made it to 14

Before I had to accept what I had seen.

What I had done

What had been done to me.

Not every girl gets that far.