I am troubled
By certain comments
That you have made.
All my life
I have fought
To become the person
I was meant to be
And becoming that person
Required that I sometimes fly
In the face
Of tradition.
For someone shy
And naturally peace-loving,
The resulting static
Was difficult
And often painful
To deal with.
Now,
I am faced once more
With another's out-dated opinions
On the roles
Of women and men,
Someone I dared believe
Could accept me
As a whole,
Someone I had opened myself to
And allowed to walk into my life
On equal terms.
But you do not see women
In terms of equality
And now I've began to wonder
Just how you see us at all.
I will not go back
To living a life
Dictated by someone
Who would suppress
And smother
The fires that burn
Within me.
Do you not see
That you seek to kill
The very essence
Of that which drew you
To me
In the first place?
.