You mistook
My love for dependence
My kindness for ignorance
My restraint for innocence
My silence for helplessness

My need for peace and harmony for my weakness
My second, third, fourth chances
you mistook for my naiveté
My supplicant nature for insecurity

You saw the turbulent waves and missed the vast stillness below

You scoffed at the tears and missed that it nourished the seed you buried oh so long ago
You saw the fury of the tornado and missed the calm before the storm
That weak, dumb, insecure woman you toyed with,
was but a figment of your misogynist imagination!

The reality is that I am a strong, benevolent woman full of grace and compassion!

Kind, selfless, forgiving, powerful and generous…….and yet

You raped
You plundered
You pillaged
You drained
You ravaged

You took and took and took until it was too late,
You crossed the line, you wrote your fate

I said NO MORE
This game of mistaken identity,
I refuse to play it anymore!
No more dimming of my light
No more playing small and hiding in plain sight
No more denying what is my right
No more interfering with my flight
For now I know who I am
I stand resplendent in my own might ….