When did I become a woman?
They say it’s your first period, but was I really a woman at ten?
When did the scared little girl, become a terrified young woman?
I am 18 with the outfittings of a fully grown female
Able to bear offspring and the like
But I can’t nail down a gig that’s more than $8.25
Every
Goddamn
Hour
I have wiry hair that sprawls like clouds
And nails nubby and rough
Am I a woman?
An adult even?
I do not strut heel toe on pavement
I skulk in and around slipped dreams, failed promises
Hoping no one sees me floating in and out of doubtful existence
Hold me close please, let me pretend I am safe in your arms
Don’t adults shoo their own monsters away?
I do not remember the turn I took
That brought me from childish point A
To slovenly adult point B
Trading juice for Juice came easy enough
But being told to make adult gold from child straw
Has my knocked knees bowing under the pressure
Boundless youth into bounded maturity
Feet in shoes 5 times too large
Womanhood is this
Growing up is this
Adulthood is this
I don’t want this