I am not that which was born to be moulded unto your will
To be taken and shaped for your eyes
For nobody's eyes
I will not walk the way you have laid out for me
I will not speak with the words you have decided we could own

I never told a lie except the many ones that saved me
And I've never been told the truth by a man who looked anything like you
Don't interrupt me, do not touch me
Look how I may look, I'm not for your seeing
If she were another, if she were your mother
Damn how you know me, I'm still a human being

They poisoned all the water so we're sick and tired and grey
And I'm sitting on the rooftop picking off the ones who like us that way
Who trap us and make us dogfight
Want us so bad they beat us dead
Your sorry lack of insight will not excuse the things you've said

And don't come here and tell me you tried
When you haven't said a word
Or got your hands dirty
If you can't pick up arms to fight
For my right to be more than your property
You don't deserve me
And I don't deserve this

Every word is not a gift: it's mediocre radiation
And I don't care for your opinion when it's unasked for
And you're trying to be wise
If I paint myself in scarlet colours I do it for the birds and trees
I do it for the concrete towers
I do it to do as I please

If you'd hit me for a kiss then it's not long before I'll be
Bleeding out on the carpet
And well, you've never known how to keep the carpets clean
We have another language
And I'm sorry that you never learnt the words
But it's not my job to teach you
Not when you're treating us like dirt
And paying less than our worth

You tell me to be polite like your pride is earned
Like it's worth more than my peace, more than my body
Worth more than my life
There's nothing that I say that's not me getting in the way
She should just be a pawn to play
Your daughter-sister-mother-wife

And don't come here and tell me you tried
When your friend took my friend home when she was blackout
When half the world was measured by your wandering eyes
And the wandering hands you drunkenly deny
We don't deserve this

If I flinch from your voice, from your jokes or from your hand
It matters not what you have done
This world has told me you're a threat
Moderate your words and choices
Softer shoulders, lower voices
I have to check my every move and thought when I speak to you

There's a moment when you pause and I see once you were a child
And before you were taught that we are stupid
You were raised with your mother's touch
But a clever woman became a witch
And a speaking one because a bitch
And you were left clutching the kindling
Lost and so sure that you needed the fire

I know with half a mind still that a better man has been
Who sees this and rages, who sees beauty and still weeps
But all that falls too short, too distant
One good man is not enough
You're scared we're laughing at you
We're scared you'll murder us

And don't come here and tell me you tried
When you know you haven't tried
And don't come here and tell me you tried
When you haven't tried
No and don't come here and tell me you tried
When you haven't tried at all

(You'd be lying if you told me you'd been trying)