I’m feeling a bit emotional today To no surprise
As I am the proud bearer
Of a uterus and long hair
And soft breasts
And therefore an inability To quiet my excessively Bleeding heart
I’m feeling a bit emotional Because next to a man who I’m told is my equal
I feel less than
Simply because he can speak louder than me Because his grievances carry the weight of mountains And mine are deemed an overreaction
I am a bit emotional
Because I’ve been taught that
The most important thing I can be is pretty That I am less of a woman if I ignore
A slight of hair on my upper lip
That I must coat my skin in
Gloss and powder
To be noticed.
I am feeling emotional
Because any roundness of my belly
Means I am sloppy and lazy
Next to a man who gets winded going up stairs
Belt angrily biting his sides
But who has never once had it suggested to him That a diet would be in his best interest
I am a bit emotional
Because somehow, even when I coat my skin Whither to a size two
And clear my body of all of its soft curling hair I am vapid
I am trying too hard
So shallow that if you were to walk through me Your feet would stay dry
I am a bit emotional
Because you scorn me
For harboring a desire to fuck
That parallels my phallus-toting counterparts Because my exposed body
Can reduce me to filth
But without my sexuality
I am a shadow
I’m a bit emotional
For my bleeding feet
From treading glass
To avoid cracking fragile male egos Because a slip of the tongue
Can so easily lead To a broken body
I am a bit emotional
Because no matter how rational
How honest
How stone-faced and unobtrusive I am with my complaints
I will not be heard
And I will be told
To quit being so emotional
Seattle, 2016