I first heard sirens go off in
my brain, when I was just shy
of eight
and there was an earthquake
between my parents

the buildings collapsed
all around me, as I held
my mother's hand at 2 am
and slept at my neighbour's
dreary house

it felt like an emergency
but nobody cared

the second time, I was older
there was a curfew
around my lady parts

I couldn't look pretty
or celebrate my beauty
in front of a man

for what if he did
the unimaginable

but it happened anyway
in the confines of my own home

his hand reached for places I
hadn't yet explored

it felt like an emergency
but nobody cared

especially my parents

I'm an adult now
which means, I have lost count

of the times I’ve been wronged
it’s been too many times

my entire life's blueprint
has been a coy navigation
of minefields

and I am so tired
of carrying the weights of
my femininity

a state of emergency
is a constancy
in every woman's life

and I'm afraid I will never know
a normal day

Is this the only way?