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.

This poem is about: 
Our world

Comments

Pansyish

I love everything in this poem! The use of rhyme and the overall message truly stuck me, it's so

real and the word choice is amazing

willoxash

Wonderful!!! Such a powerful message. 

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