-- they tell her
to keep her eyes open
and her mouth shut
to take her pills
and keep her virginity
to believe in the ten million names of God
and to disbelieve in herself
to obey her parents
and her church
and her politicians
and her policemen
and everything but her own instincts
they tell her how to live
how to think
how to act
how to be
and then they wonder
why she screams
they cannot understand
her rage and frustration
and when she says
“I just want to be me”
they tell her that too
is forbidden

Graphic --