What makes me woman?
What makes me woman
Besides the vulva, vagina,
Clitoris, and uterus that
Lie between my thighs?
What makes me more woman
Than the boobs on my chest
Or the width of my hips?
Why does my ass make me
A woman?
I’m sorry, do these words make
You uncomfortable?
Tit, breast, boob;
Coochie, vagina, clit.
Does my expression towards
The discretion of my own fucking
Body
Make you mad?
What makes me woman
But being catcalled for the
First time at age eleven.
What makes me woman
But hearing the word rape for
The first time at age ten.
I had nightmares for months
About what my body could
Provide even if I didn’t want it
To provide anything but
Kindness.
What makes me woman
But being told to cover up
When my shorts were more than a
Dollar-bill width above the knee
Or when the other kids
Looked up my shorts on
The monkey bars.
God, forgive me for having
The body you gave me;
I’m not asking for it
Rather than trying not to
Become another goddamn
Statistic.
I still hear the word rape
And no longer am I scared—
Well, I am, but pepper spray and
Tasers are illegal in this state,
So I have to pretend not to be—
But I am fucking angry.
I’m angry because a woman
I consider my sister was being
Molested for years by her
Own fucking cousin,
And I listened to the stories of
Her taking bottles of pills
And how she nearly jumped off
An overpass.
I’m angry because a woman
Who is a close friend of mine
Was groomed online—twice.
She was already trying not to
Kill herself, but now I can’t blame
Her for wanting to.
I’m angry because a woman,
My cousin at my age,
Was drugged, beat up, and
Raped.
She tried to kill herself at a
Church camp two weeks later.
So what makes me woman
But the shit between my legs
Or on my chest or ass or hips.
What makes me woman
But combing through the news
Every day, praying the next
Girl is not someone I know.
What makes me woman
But hoping they’ll look for my
Body if a man were to rape me.
Oh, that word makes you
Uncomfortable?
Too. Fucking. Bad.
Being raped is fucking
Uncomfortable.
Being woman is fucking
Uncomfortable.
So being woman is not a
Clit or uterus or whatever
Things are on my body
That men claim are theirs.
What makes me woman is
Keys between my knuckles;
I am woman because of my
Fear;
What makes me woman
Is the fact that any day,
My world could shatter by
The hands of man.