(Written in response to the #PicandaWord weekly challenge prompt, from Pix to Words, 12/25/16.)
***********
The woman I am
Is the woman I was
The quiet one
The smart one
The bookworm
The one who ran a high school mile in 20 minutes
The woman I am
Is the woman I was
The hands in my back pocket,
I can conquer the world,
Let the party begin,
I can pull off an A paper in 4 hours Co-ed
Who wasn’t self aware enough
Who wasn’t practiced enough
To know alcoholic lies
The woman I am
Is the woman I was
The trusting in a good world
How did this happen to me
Despite my negative words
Against my feminist will
It must be my fault
Forgive me, understand me lover.
The woman I am
Is the woman I was
The grieving mother
The don’t get too close so it doesn’t hurt mother
The oh it could be fun and easy mother
The I didn’t realize boys were so different mother
The stay my baby a little a lot longer mother
The woman I am
Is the woman I was
Angry and hurt
Confused yet hopeful
Spurned into action
Despite fears of rejection
I am the intersection of
My gender
My ethnicity
My religion
My race
The intertwining of identity and history
The woman I am
Is the woman I was
Is the woman I will become
©iido, 2016
