you see something crippling and delicate in all women
was it your mother or your father who taught you that we must all be handled with sympathy?
surely not the one who tore her body open
to give you life
so, I ask you to try and understand
that I am more than what you have been taught a woman
can or should be
more than what you have attached yourself to
out of convenience or comfort
or even pride
more than tenderness and fragility
I am beyond comprehension to a man who seeks simplicity
born with war inside my own body
I have tasted blood
battled demons
given more than what I had
burying, without ceremony, versions of myself not strong enough
I know the feel of the axe just as well as the wound
the road just as fondly as the rock
and yet I can be moved
I can be loved
I can still be gentle
and that is why some women are flowers
and some are warriors

the blood
& the bones

©️thebloodandthebones