IT MATTERED

when i was
very young
i didn't know
being a girl mattered
but as i grew
i knew it mattered
at eleven i became
a woman
you know how
i couldn't play darkroom
and i couldn't sit
close to him
to read comics
something within protested
after all
i felt like a kid
and
was still flat-chested
but i was a girl
and
it mattered
at seventeen
i wanted to give
my opinion
but they said
i was still
too young
i tried to be
a girl and a woman
in the struggle
i lost
my identity
Preeti Singh