One Day

One day,
I was walking home with my mum,
An old man called me love,
Told me to give him a lick of my ice cream,
I was seven.
and it still makes me wanna scream.

One day,
I wore my favourite skirt to the shops,
I got catcalled by a man someone probably called "pops",
My mum told me "take it as a compliment"
I was fourteen
and no longer comfortable in my skin.

One day,
I went out with my friends to town,
what Ii was wearing should not matter,
but to every guy who saw me it did,
I was fifteen,
and realised that this was normal.

I shouldn't be afraid to go out at night in fear of harassment,
but i am.
I shouldn’t have had to worry about it at 14,
but i did.
I shouldn't take it as a compliment,
It was not.

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Jemima