When I was little
I asked my mother
What will I be
She said pretty but discreet
When I told my mom
I had a boyfriend
She was just relieved
rape was not the story
When he held my shoulder
and turned me around
I was just thankful
That he did not hit me
When I was little
I asked my mother
What will I be
She said pretty like fairies
But be careful on taxies
If I am ever on one
Call someone,
so they know about my whereabouts
Or pretend to cough like I am sick
So he won’t lay a finger on me
When I was in junior high
My mom educated me to dress ugly
Pretty girls get into troubles
She said,
I know that from experience,
Listen to your mother
When I walked through the basketball team
In high school
I felt like I had to shrink
Because the way they looked at me
Unanimously
Worried about what they may do to me
When I walked alone on the dark lonely streets
I am always afraid,
Of the shadow behind me
Wondering if that shadow belongs to me
Or another man
When I am safely home from a party
I need to text my friends
to inform them about my safety
It never occurred to me
That my male friends don’t have to do the same
When I am alone with a strange man in the elevator
I worry from the top floor to the lobby
If he would take advantage of me
When a boy in elementary school
Wrote a letter to me
Which says “I hope you get raped soon”
I did not say a thing.
When my best friend in high school
Pulled his girlfriend’s hair
And forced her to go down on him
I did not say a thing
When he caught my arm on the street
And asked if we can be friends
I said no
He asked why
so I said okay
because I’d rather block him silently
Then making a scene
That time
I did not say a thing
When a guy at brass monkey groped me
I did not say a thing
When he threw things at me
Just because he was angry at something
I did not say a thing
When I am wearing a mini dress
And he thinks he has the right to touch me
As if I was asking for it
I did not say a thing
When this is the third time in this month
That three women were dismembered by different men
For saying no
This time
I am not staying silent anymore
This time
I am saying no
For the three women that died from brutal hands
I say no
To this society that favors man
I say no
To this world that men feel safe walking
alone and women don’t
I say no
Women,
We have the right to say no
without being punished.
No more violence
No more rape
No more death and cruel murder case.
Men,
when you witness a woman saying no
respect her
that is the only thing you need to do
respect a woman
when she says no
Butterfly Poetry 