is age what defines her?
is it her sex? is it her body?
when she begins to assert?

if she’s a mother? a sister? a wife?
a friend? a grandmother? a lover?
all she’s given to others in life?

a female in any sense of the word?
she raises her voice
but her words, rarely heard

what if she doesn’t want a child?
she must be selfish
she must be wild

though she feels like she’s given every ounce of herself
it culminates into what’s still not enough
so she keeps herself pushed to the back of the shelf

you still want to judge her for all that she’s not
reduced to a shadow that hides in the dark
so she swims against current to be what you thought

she becomes what everyone wanted of her
one day she wakes up, disoriented and terse
the pieces she hides now get lost, deferred

she changes and yet she’s still turned away
nothing will please them so she goes astray
defeated, confused, alone, and afraid

like so many others, you’ve heard what comes next
she became so small
til nothing was left

stories like this one are too many to count
how does she take back control?
before never getting out?

a burden too big for her to shoulder
in a hole so deep there’s no way to climb out of
what defines her is all her pride will allow her