Don’t crush your flower

With those stilettos

Stepping on every petal,

Your attitude crashing in all your strides

Leaving a foul stench

Don’t pierce your beauty 

with all those holes 

you have on your body.

Your femininity will pour out

Into that empty brain of yours

And return as tears

The only thing you women are good for

Don’t stain your elegance

With those black scribbles you have 

On your weak and vulnerable body.

These lines will chain you up 

Leaving you with nothing you can do

Making you even more useless than you are

Don’t wear that.

You are a painting for your husband

And your husband only

You will be kept behind the red curtains

And never be showcased

Don’t walk as if you rule the world

Every step you take is in vain

And will never be recognized

Validation is a cruel word. 

It covers me like a hoodie I’m demanded to use

When I look like a slut. 

Baltimore Beat is running poems from participants in the group Writers in Baltimore Schools, which offers programming that builds skills in literacy and communication while creating a community of support for young writers.