I Will Not... - Public Seminar

I will not publish this poem under my own name.

Because I cannot stand being criticized by my parents.

I will not, however, keep this to myself.

I will not admit I sometimes enjoy catcalls

Because being a woman is tough and draining on my self esteem.

I will not pretend I don’t sometimes smile when I hear a stranger call me

Beautiful.

I will not stop dancing sexually or seductively and

I will not stop wearing clothing that’s a bit too revealing

Because if a Hollywood celebrity can do it, then so can I.

I will not pretend I hate Freud.

Because I actually love the man.

I will not become a hysteric

And repress my sexual appetite

And my sexual jokes and innuendo

In fear that it is not lady like and proper.

(Freud would actually most likely approve of it.)

I will not stop dating my boyfriend just because my parents want me to.

I will date who I want. I will marry who I want.

I will not get married in a traditional way.

I’m more than capable of walking my own damn self down the aisle.

I will not force my daughter to cook or clean

Because

I would never force my son to do the same.

I will allow my daughter to chase her passions

To have her own dreams

To live fearlessly like her mother struggled to

So that she can one day say-

“I will publish this poem under my own name.”

If the woman does not exist,

Neither will this poem-

Whether it is written under a name

Or not.

But I-

I will not.

I Will Not…