Not All Men, Yet We Still Fear All Men

Not all men

Will follow too close behind

When you walk down the street

Making you discreetly look around

For another soul, another woman

Every few seconds

Not all men

Will slow down the vehicle

To match the pace of your walk

Will roll down the window

And yell, “hey beautiful, get in the car”

Not all men

Will whistle and call and stare

Like they’re undressing you

With their eyes

“If I was thirty years younger

You’d have problems”

Not all men

Will intimidate, manipulate

Change the way you walk

The way you see strangers

The way you see yourself

I am an easy target

Not all men

Will send panic like a bullet

Through your bloodstream

Rattling your bones

Making you clutch your pepper spray

As if it is the difference

Between life and death

Not all men

Will force you down

To take what isn’t theirs

Will steal your sanity

Just because they liked your body

Just because they wanted some

Not all men

Are dangerous

But it is the few that are

That make me fear

All men

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