Walking down the street in

Perfectly decent attire

Most of these men look like their marital

Situations are dire, but who am I

To judge and question, I'm just

Going about my business

Earphones plugged in deep, turn the volume up

Higher, fists clenched like they are all

Exactly like my sire

Then, "Hey, hey" in my ear

Is it my imagination or is he really

Two centimeters from my rear

If I keep my eyes shut will he simply disappear

Or should I book it and run fast like

A deer- caught in the headlights, they say

He's older than me by at least 30+ years

Why does he need to embellish and realize

A young girl's fears

Catcalling from cars and guys stumbling

Drunk out of bars, following girls

Home after dark, I believe

This is now going too far

Veering close on a bicycle

"Pretty girl," in our ears

Would we still hear this if we were

Marred, if our faces were mottled by

Wear and tear

In a culture where it isn't safe

For a girl to walk home alone

Even bothered while she readily

Pretends to babble on the phone

Is it because of who we are, the

Glow that brightens our features, the

Innocent shining in our eyes like stars

That we haven't tasted much yet

As we are still young

Do those men really think we're

Desperate enough or attracted to someone

Old enough to be our fathers-in-law

Do they think that blowing us kisses

In the deli is going to really

Make us fall in love with wrinkled cheeks

And weathered souls or yelling that

Yeah, we'd better say good morning

Is going to make us want to strip our clothes

It's a sad state, the mind of misters and sirs

Provoking the existence of innocent girls

It's a shame we can't walk home without concern

Without thinking we should have been uglier