As the man steps out of his car, 
I watch him carefully from a distance,
My eyes follow his hands as he locks his car,
I watch his every movment closely.


My male friend laughs when I squeeze his hand every time a man walks past us,
He tells me I have nothing to be scared of.

Little does he know that I hold my keys between my fingers as I walk.

Little does he know that I fear being the next girl on the news,
Having a photo of me with the bold words MISSING underneath,
Eye witnesses saying that I was last seen at the park with my dog.

My feminist English teacher says that streets are not safe for women,
My male history teacher says women fabricate their stories,
He does not understand that we have to,
We are liars until they are guilty,
We are over emotinal until they are behind bars,
We are over dramatic until we are missing girls.

Not every man is hunting for his prey, but as they prey, we fear every lion.




© me