He recalls it happening
but it isn’t something he likes to discuss
girls becoming women

I hold my breath
waiting for him to let go
He hangs on

He
stands a little too close
stares a little too long
and we say no
but he doesn’t listen
he has treated women like this his whole life

When the tears have dried…

I asked him why he thought it was okay
to mistreat and misuse me
Cause I like the attention you're giving me?
Shaking his head, said
Girls are different than boys
He’ll never understand

all the happenings she had not understood
all the forgotten incidents
that would never end

So, we pretend like this isn't happening
Just a bad dream
But the truth is, it hurts
it hurts
it hurts

we are accustomed to swallowing these emotions and staying quiet

But
She is alive
She’s special
a real thing, a good woman
and man will never understand
and they will not give her back to me
my childhood, my innocence

I wondered if I could ever be so perfect again

It reminds us of the stories we’ve heard
from our mothers and grandmothers
that too many women have felt
and we worry about our daughters hearing it
the shameful comments about our bodies

you can do anything you want to a woman

Isn’t she lovely?
Isn’t she wonderful?
A beautiful woman
everybody took for a girl
but she's no fool

Could it be worse?

Her gender has become
synonymous to weakness
incapability
and inadequacy
but then again thats nothing new

To keep herself to herself

But
I am a girl
since the day I was born
this is my gender
my life

we cannot ignore

I will assure you
I salute your existence
girls
females
women
of all shapes and sizes
your voice still has value and merit
Your body sill has worth

Remember, you are a woman to be recognised and honoured

If I put myself in the man’s place
What would he do next?
See, I’m a woman of many talents
and great ideas

My mother would be proud of me

So, I will be no man,
but the man you want me to be
only
I’ll be a woman

Just so you know,
every time we stole kisses at red lights,
I'd pray they'd never turn green.
And every time we went for those midnight drives,
you were the only thing worth seeing.
I have live long enough to know that too much time will **** a person,
it always does.
and I wouldn't rush to say this
But just so you know,
the first time I told you I loved you was whispered into your ear as you slept,
Head on my chest,
you moved slightly,
lightly breathing in and out.
I have never been very good at speaking;
you should know that by now.
So much so,
that by writing the words 'I love you' with my finger on your skin,
I hope that one day you will recognise it and let it in.
I have done it a million time,
on the couch,
in the shower,
even when you drive
But just so you know,
I don't do it because I'm afraid of what you'll say,
I do it because every time I write it,
your heart seems to beat a different way.

Let's just keep driving
And see where it takes us.
Highways or dirt roads,
Who knows.
Let's drive until the petrol runs out,
Or the money;
And Honey,
You’re all I need;
As a lover or as a friend,
It doesn’t bother me
For I know you’re there.
So let's drive until the days turn dark.
Sleep upright or on each others shoulders,
And eat cheap take-out food in public parks.
Let's watch the world go by
As we sit on busy sidewalks
Or lay in fields of grass,
And let's laugh
At all the little things.
Let's drive until we reach the beach,
Or the country side.
Let's see what the world has to offer.
Let's see what the world has to hide.
But let us marvel at the things we may never have a chance to see.
I will call you my sunrise,
As you awaken my eyes to truely see for the first time,
And I will be your sunset;
A place to rest your head when you go to bed.
So let's dive into the unknown.
But darling,
We won’t do it alone;
So let's just keep driving.

I can not say your skin feels like home
But I've been wandering for so long
Your heart seems like the only place I've known
And when you've been wandering
You always try and find a place to sleep
So can I sleep on your chest into early next week?
Because I'd like to get lost
Between your ribcage
Trace your veins with my fingers
And quietly say;
"Your eyes are like oceans"
And I've been swimming for so long in them
I think I might drown
But it would be an honour
And a privilege
If you were the one to pull me down
And I wish to tell you;
I like the way I hear how fast your heart starts to beat,
As our legs intertwine
And I like the way your whole body jolts,
In the middle of the night
And if I could write you a metaphor
With the kisses I lay upon your breast
I would write you one that simple says;
*When you wrap your arms around me
It feels like a test,
That I already know the answers to,
So I don't count it as cheating

I was born from wet, winter leaves in rain soaked skin,
And I learnt from a young age not to let people in.
So hushed and quiet I choose to listen than speak,
For talkers say enough to talk into summer heat.
But I am the cold. I am the rain.
I was the voiceless listener with nothing to trade (except for written word)
So I will leave this earth to rot; in utter glory,
And when morning breaks through I will not tell our story
But leave the pages open and the books unread,
So that when you sleep next to me you have a place to rest your head.

I needed to feel love, yet love is untraceable.
And I feel so replaceable when you call me pretty; yet pity me for not coming after you.
But I do not chase; do not believe your heart is a race to the finish line,
For I can’t hide my feelings if you see them.
So I don’t show them but rather hope you see,
The person I am longing to be in winter state.
So cast me away, break the chains.
Reveal my body to the summer days where the sun will warm my skin. And my bed ridden lungs will breathe in air,
And it's only fair if I do the same for you.
So let me pull you from your bed, kiss your head,
And tell you I love you; If you promise to say it back.
So when moments lack sound, don’t fear.
For I can still hear your heart beating as if repeating our love.
And so my dear;
We shall close our eyes when the days get too dark, pull blankets over our Heads and never lie on the edge of the bed so we have an excuse to sleep Closer together and weather the worst as it comes.
And we will look like a piece of art; painted by a master.
Relentless; reluctant; a perfect disaster.

I will not call you beautiful.
For beauty is a man-made thing
Whose meaning turns to nothing
When I compare it to you

I shall not allow myself to simply call you pretty
For the flowers that bend their heads towards the setting sun
Look at me in pity
And proclaim that it was you who taught them how to grow

And so,
When words lose their meanings
You find a way to hear things
Differently
And make sense of the world

How then can I simply call you pretty?

You showed me that effort is a foot you must put first
And that the hurt
Is always what it is worth
For it proves you tried

And so darling,
I could take your eyes
And compare them to maple forests
And pine cones
But then little would any body know
That you see the world like lace

And I only wish to trace the thoughts of your mind
Thread them together with cotton and time
And show you how perfect they are

For your radiance runs as far
As the eye can see
And your love can set fire to trees
And burn whole cities to the ground

And,
As if protesting that it’s hate thats been getting us down
You learn to forgive
Turn ashes into molten
And hand out kindness
As if reminding us
To love ourselves

And so,
I can not call you beautiful
Or pretty
I can not simply compare your eyes to maple forests
And your body to flowers buds
Because you are worth so much more then that
For it was you who made me believe in love

I do not hate
I can not hate
Instead I lack remorse

I turn all those who love me
Against my deadly thoughts

I pinpoint lovers hearts
And shoot them to the ground
To show there is not hope
To the people I let down

So do not be proud of me
When I sacrifice myself
For a better world of emptiness
And a bottle on the shelf

I’ll take the words “I love you”
And crush them into dust
To prove that a lovers heart
Is something to distrust

Because I grew up through pain and suffering
Watch mothers cry in fear
For the fathers that left them standing
With nothing but colourless tears

I was a child of divorce
Left alone to find my place
In a world where the 'perfect family'
Didn’t seem to have a trace

So I drew a picture of my dad
In a house all by himself
And gave it to a lady
Who I was told was suppose to help

But even years on from then
As a woman now, my fathers gone away
To fight a war of loneliness
And drink himself to his grave

A lonely song for a hopeless heart
Who once believed in her dreams
I've learnt the harshest truth of all
That love
Is never what it seems