My birth is a crime
Just because i was born
The wrong gender, i freeze in time
Trying to comprehend each warn
Telling me to hide my thighs
But all i do is hide my eyes
From looks undressing me
Even when they cannot see
I ask myself, why do you want to take
What was never yours to take and break
I don't know, maybe it was me
Maybe it was me who could not see
That i was the one who led you on
But i cried, i yelled
Yet still hell descended upon
My decaying body you held
When they ask what happened i hide
The truth carefully inside
My bleeding heart, because they will ask
If i was wearing that mask
To cover my body because my truth
Will somehow be an untrue truth
Before those who see me
As inherently guilty

© Thembi Ntahane KaMahlangu