I wonder if you know
I walk down the streets
Pepper spray in my pocket
Sometimes I wonder if you
Are a figment of imagination
Or if you are the sad truth
But often your presence is
More visible than joining gaps
I wonder if you know
I have to show the evidence
Before I can be believed
The experience is yours
As if mine is negligible
A girl is taught to walk
But never to speak
A statistic not of value
I wonder if you know
How it feels to live
Powerlessly incapable
Devoid of all rights
In a system designed
For men about women
An object less worthy
Than its broken pieces
— Can you sleep?
A child screams
Somewhere in
A hospital bed
A baby alongside
She closes her eyes
Tears running down
She wonders if she
Could love something
Unwanted