telling me
not all men
have
bad intentions

doesn’t do
anything to
reassure
me.

after i
walk away from you,
nothing will have
changed.

i will still
be scared to
leave my house
after sundown.

i will still
find comfort
in keys resting 
between fingers,

i will still 
question
the intentions of
every man i know

i will still
wonder
when i am
to become

a story 
meant to warn
other people’s 
daughters,

& i will still
cry when i turn on
the television
to find

yet
another man
getting away
with

well–
what they
always seem to
get away with.

i am not
the one who
has to change
the way i think
or the way i act.
they are.” 
— Amanda Lovelace