I Am Her and She Is Me

i am

her

and she

is

me

if i tried to count how many times

i would run out of fingers

we would all run out of fingers

so engrained it

doesn’t seem to warrant a mention

(i am so done with this oppression)

keys

shoes

hair

phone

and yet I am white

and straight

and privileged

(i fear for those who are not)

main

roads

are

safer

(a world without men would be safer)

what part of ‘my body is not yours’

got lost in translation

apparently my sex makes me your possession

did my body ever belong to me?

text

me

when

you

get

home

(i’m in mourning for a life i never lived)

i do not want to be the victim of your affection

don’t touch me there

don’t call me that

you say you like a girl that fights back?

i smell a rat

i am not a land to be conquered

or a point to score

not wanting to sleep with you does not make me a whore

i

no

longer

feel

safe

(but i don’t think i ever did)

not all men

but enough men

not all men

but you are all one of them

just like i am her and she is me

you are him and he is you

(i don’t like what the outside world has become)

how long will it take for you to learn your lesson?

(i am so done with this oppression)

---

Words by Julia Brookes

Artwork by Pippa Tuffin (@p.tuffin_art)