To Be A Woman

To be a woman

is to change

constantly.

Raised to know your name

is temporary

and your home is fleeting.

When I was little

I envied my brother

our last name was forever his.

Our family line

is one and the same

and yet I will be

some forgotten member

of the family tree.

I struggled to accept

my storyline would soon enough

be lost in time.

To be a woman

is to bid farewell

to multiple versions

of yourself.

- fleeting thoughts 9/26/24

Unable to let go yet it hurts being too close.

A young teens questions and a young adults revisions

Reflecting on goodbyes that were said before you ever realized.

You’d think after fearing the inevitable all your life it would hurt less when the inevitable finally happens.

But it doesn’t, it hurts just as much; if not more.

Maybe because it’s the one thing you hoped more than anything would never come true.

I see myself

in her

and him

his twisted thoughts

her wanted whims

I see myself

in craving

and criticizing

his judgemental smile

her grin of beguile

I see myself

when I don’t want to

recognize this strife

I feign to forget

these hearts

created mine

maybe in another life

I’ll grant myself the grace

to see myself

as a story not so foreign

one that’s truly mine