By definition
demand
mandate
The day I met you pink was what this culture expected of you
Painted for life
This culture where the violence of silencing women is invisible
Where hate for a woman’s mistakes or choices or decisions forces her alone to make amends
for simply living
Where the default is to too easily call her names she’ll hear often, and cut deepest spit from the lips of her child trained up in this culture by them
This culture that has blinded you to its lies and violence through its scriptures, its classrooms, its never hallowed halls of policies
The day I met you began a complex fumbling often losing battle to teach you your worth in the same moments I fought hard to find my own
My job - done well - was to assure you did not become me
I watched you step onto a few wrong paths
Over time with and without my help your job became becoming you
We’re not perfect you and I
That’s what it is to be human
Utter imperfection
You’re going to make more mistakes
So will I
That’s what it is to be a human
I will forever love you without restriction through every silence as you learn what this place is
It’s one of the priceless gifts given a mother’s child
We are persons
Being angry is a process that turns out to have the purpose of pushing us on
These things that have hurt both of us are not all that I am or hope to have been or expect to be confined to