The first lesson you learn
as a woman is how to swallow
yourself so perfectly in order
to make a man feel
whole. To be dead,
but still breathing.
Yesterday, while walking
to work a man holding
cds called me a bitch
for not acknowledging
his presence. I had forgotten
the second lesson: when
alone no matter how much
your body screams at you to run,
don’t.
Smile.
Answer
any question. A man
is always safer when
he doesn’t feel ignored.
At the end of the day,
in the safety of your apartment
when your skin feels
more residue, when the words
and catcalls start to build
a home in your mind.
Burn the outposts,
scatter the ashes like snow
on a December day, call it
memorial, call it new beginning,
call it lesson three:
doing what it takes
to survive.
Born and raised in the PNW, Kelsey Taylor is a former figure skater, with a fear of falling, who has traded in her skates for poetry slams and leotards for leather jackets. She has been known to sticky note peoples cars, climb up 50ft of sand and occasionally post videos on Youtube under the screen name Kelsey1393. You can find more of her writing on her personal website: https://kelseytaylorwrites.wordpress.com as well as Words Dance.