No Right Way

If she is untouched;

she is too tight,

too closed,

too much of something

they don’t understand.

If she is open,

soft,

exploring her own body;

she is loose,

a story told in whispers

with no respect attached.

If she stays home;

she is lazy.

If she works;

it is never enough;

“Why not more?”

“Why not bigger?”

“Why not better?”

If she chooses not to carry life;

she is cruel.

If she carries it alone;

she is now less than;

a warning,

not a woman.

If she wants no husband,

no children,

no script written for her;

they say she will end

in silence and loneliness.

If she follows the script,

does everything right,

and still it breaks;

she is the failure.

She is the one

they call “used.”

If she is intelligent,

aware,

grounded in herself;

she is intimidating.

“Her standards are too high.”

If she is gentle,

nurturing,

devoted to her home;

she is lazy again;

told to be grateful

for a life she built.

If she shows her body;

she wants attention.

If she covers it;

she has forgotten

how to be desired.

If she is small;

she is not enough.

If she is strong;

she is too much.

If she is soft and full;

she has let herself go.

If she paints her face;

she is fake.

If she doesn’t;

she is overlooked.

If she gives everything

to her children;

she has no identity.

If she keeps pieces of herself;

they ask;

“Where are your children?”

And still;

they will watch her,

measure her,

name her;

no matter what she chooses.

So she learns;

there is no winning here.

Only becoming.

Only choosing

the version of herself

that feels like truth

in her own body.

The little girl inside her

is still watching.

So she stands;

not perfect,

not approved,

not explained;

but whole.

And she whispers to herself,

through all the noise;

“I am enough.

I always was.” 💖