My Mother Taught me my ABCs

Almighty Jesus is the savior of the Good Southern Man,

But the women of the South hum a different tune.

Corporate woman in New York sings hymnals about

Differences in her wages and

Everyone calls her a bitch.

~

Firstborn daughter becomes secondhand mother.

Good women learn to hold their tongue, and

His mouth hangs open like mosquito bites to

Itch the skin of his sisters.

~

Jaws can be stitched into a smile after they’ve been

Kicked in. My back molars have pierced the edges of my

Lips once or twice. I thread my own needles the way

My mother taught me how to stay safe in this

Never ending hailstorm - you don't get to

Open the umbrella. You only get used to the

Piercing.

~

Quiet women are supposed to be safe women, but

Raised fists don’t actually discriminate between

Shouting and silence.

Tears and television sounds.

~

Understand this - your confidence will be seen as

Vanity. The people around you will attribute the

Wheelhouse of your emotion to a deficit of

Xanax. Momma warned me they'd say:

Your body is not your own in this

Zero sum game.