if i were a man

if i were a man,
id be a welder
id work a blue collar
9 to 7 job

id bring my wife and daughter
freshly picked roses everyday
on my way home from work

i would run corporations
make cash flow like a river
i’d be strong and resilient
hold my head higher than
my ego

although, i’m not a man
i’m a poet
and a woman.

if i were a man i wouldn’t
have to clutch my purse
and sprint to my car

a man followed me through the store the other day

if i were a man
i wouldn’t have to carry mace
and a pink pocket knife
in my designer purses

my purse was meant to carry
lip gloss and compact mirrors
not weapons

if i were a man i wouldn’t have to survive
on pure instinct, give myself whiplash from surveillancing my surroundings
i could throw the garbage out in nothing but
a pair of boxers and crusty socks

my male manager told me women are too weak to be in law enforcement

if i were a man
id make cash flow like a river
i would walk while i watched
women run to make
a percentage of what i make.

if i were a man
i’d cheat
on my wife while she
harbored and bore
my child.

all of the woman and my family have been cheated on and abused

if i were a man
i would not be able to fathom
the thought of walking
down the street with my
fingers interlocked with a set of
house keys
rather than the hand of a lover

If I were a man I’d be
l perplexed that a woman
feels safer trapped in the woods with a bear
rather than a man 
 Because a bear won’t always attack you right? 
the worst thing it’ll do is 
kill you.

if i were a man
id be a welder
id work a blue collar
9 to 7 job
because who needs schooling?

a man can take my innocence but he can
not take my education

and if i were a man
i’d think this poem was senseless
and boring

praise god i’m not a man.