Privileged (to Know)

Growing up with meager means two-to-a-bed, high-water pants and hand-me-down clothes I never felt it

With an o where an e usually is at the end of my first name and last name that ends in ez I never felt it

Afforded college on scholarships for excelling with honors Working too early mornings at a menial job to pay the bills I never felt it

Worked my way up the ladder at a company after graduating Stayed with them far too long and got taken advantage of I never felt it

A woman writes from the heart and shares her thoughts She gets her words twisted, called names, verbal threats, unnecessarily sexualized, harassed, shamed, ridiculed, embarrassed, dismissed, belittled, demeaned, trivialized, berated, persecuted, faulted and stripped of dignity

I feel it for the first time I’m a man this doesn’t happen to us I am privileged