The Unspoken

Women are amazing,
Because there has never been a creature,
So strong and fragile
In the same breath,

You look at me as if incredulous
That I won't put out,
Because you want to live some wild fantasy
That you saw on one of those porn videos
I see listed in the search bar on your computer.
You watch them when I'm not there
And think I won't notice.

Then you slink off to the shower,
Try to let the water drown you out,
And wash away your frustration.
But you don't know frustration
Or confusion,
Truly.

A woman
Is taught from childhood
That they should be ashamed of their own bodies,
Live in fear,
Never talk about
Sex
Or Pleasure,
And certainly not together.

You can wave your hand in dismissal
And say that
All of this is a thing of the past,
But it is a legacy
Passed from mother to daughter,
Through the generations,
In well-intended words,
Trying to pass on wisdom
But there's an echo
Of subjugation,
From a time
When women knew oppression,
When the chains were forged.

And now those chains live on
As ghosts of the scars of history,
Memories,
Unwilling to fade

A woman can feel pleasure,
But expressing pleasure
Discussing sex in public,
Makes us
Skanks, whores, sluts.

Showing off our natural beauty
Makes us provocative,
Turns heads,
Makes our footsteps
Echo with whistles and catcalls.

To wear clothing as a form of freedom
And self-expression,
Means we are ASKING for men to rape us!
And it is drilled into us
That someone might get us pregnant.

So sometimes we hide behind invisible chains,
Lock the doors and windows after dark.
And sometimes we are submissive,
Sacrificing our pleasure for yours
Because we are afraid to be ourselves.
We still have this legacy
Of being property
And objects of desire.

We can looking in the mirror
And see no beauty,
Because we are not thin enough
Young enough, ________ enough.

When we hurt in love
We may turn it inwards and blame ourselves.
Afterall,
We were taught to hate ourselves.

So don't look at me
As if my body defines my worth.
Don't expect me to pleasure you
Just because you want me to.

Don't expect me to pleasure you
If you don't show me
Why I should trust you.
Why should I
Forget all this social conditioning,
Release my inhibitions?
And let this night take us somewhere
Beyond time and space.

Because if I wake up,
And you snuck out while I was sleeping
Looking for another one night stand,
Then soon enough it will be another man
Sitting right there
With the same look in his eyes,
And I will have one more shackle
Holding me back,
Keeping us apart.