can’t raise boys
to be men

prepare daughters
protect sons

soundbites proclaim
a woman’s work

is never right
leaving you guessing

am i chaste
enough

am i frugal
enough

am i strong
enough

am i vulnerable
enough

have i stood
enough

did i sit
enough

is this cleanliness
saintly

my house
a santuary

for them to
worship or descecrate

have i given
enough

have i been
enough

is this where
i submit

or put on
my warrior’s armour

who approves me after
they use me

am i to be
left nothing

of me

there is no
discreet meter

measuring out
the just rightness

of a properly parenting
mother

its all
bullshit

at some point
for sanity’s sake

step out of
the confines

society describes
your proper role

limiting you
to madonna  or whore

in the tenets of sexism there lies one essential lie – women are less than. every time a woman no matter her color, creed, religion, or bank account balance pushes back she is declared even more loudly to be – less than. you feel it every time you speak up. you experience every time you imagine yourself to be moving in the right direction. it is not a figment of your imagination – the naysayers, prosecutors, deniers, and straight haters are real. they are monsters waiting outside the sanctuary where your soul goes to collect itself. your primary objective is to deny them a single inch. this is war. it has always been war. it will always be war. you are the prize.