The owner of my dignity

How could you?
How could you begrudge me
my ignorance?
I am not of your world
(I care not for it)

You laugh at how much little I know
The eyes of a bewildering child
My view of your world
Mine alone

My willingness to be alone

In the world of Men
How small I am then
Small small small

I am not the person you see
How then possibly do you see me

The owner of my dignity
The mother of my children
I am me
(No one’s property)

Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm, the blogger, poet, and translator, was born in 1971 in Phu Nhuan, Saigon, Vietnam. The pharmacist currently lives and works in Western Sydney, Australia.