Mirror Stickers
You can do something
Reads the sticker on the mirror
Adjacent to it one that calls
stop domestic violence
Empowering
As I stand
In a university bathroom
where I thought girls could focus on learning
and not worry about
surviving
Not so empowering
because clearly
Extra curricular activities
is a double entendre I'd rather not define
And I'm perfectly safe here in the bliss of light
I move on with life
I turn to dry my hands
But I can't help to see the tears this very roll
of paper towel has helped heal
of so many girls just like me who agreed
it'd be better off leaving the scene
and instead of doing as the sticker suggests
I sugar coat the vile poison of that reality with
"it'll never happen to me"
A sweetener they don't sell you in stores
But I know you've bought it before
A propaganda disguised like thieves in the night
Trying to get everyone on the same page
But my God I must not be reading the same book
we talk about how education can free the oppressed
And then tell girls it's their fault because of how they were dressed
We preach how knowledge should be her only voice
and then they don't even give her a reasonable choice
Her intelligence means nothing in a court of law
if inches not covered is all the jury saw
We say learning gives females a much stronger presence
But when Brock Turner happens
he gets a three month sentence
He ruined her life and left her in devastation
Meanwhile the court ruled he'd better keep his reputation
for the sake of his education
But what about hers?
What about the double standards that divide
what should be one
What about the battleground girls walk into called
the general public
people aren't realizing that while boys get distracted
by collar bones and knee caps
Girls get distracted by catcalls and rape threats
People don't realize that girls like me
stare at those stickers
In those pretty school mirrors
Disgusted
Wondering
Can I really do something
Before just walking away.