You taught me to yell and scream
and fight and argue
even at the slightest inconvenience
You taught me to speak
over other voices
even the ones worth listening to
You taught me that which is not like you
isn’t to be respected or understood
but merely allowed to exist
as long as no one else might see
You taught me to throw my weight around
and that the world owes you everything
as long as you tried to give it something
at some point sometime long ago
You taught me that the man
should be taken care of
the head of the table
listened to and served by woman and child
You taught me that the world should just
get out of your way and let you
do what you want
because you always know best
and now it’s long past time to learn
to set that all aside
but I’m not sure I have the strength because
You didn’t teach me