I had to learn everything the hard way—
No sense of direction,
No protection.
Tears dried up;
No more weakness for pain.
Raised among entitled men,
Womanizers with no respect—
It’s always about men—
The double standards.
You are a woman.
I am a man.
Born into traditions
carved deep in stone,
A Catholic mother’s prayers
could not soften the bone—
Of judgment, fear, rejection
wrapped in faith,
Love conditional,
heavy with shame and shade.
Never felt loved until
I found love within—
I came out.
A father’s nod,
but chains still wrapped tight—
“Behave like a lady,”
his silent fight.
Yet hands that grease engines,
not manicured nails,
Showed the truth of a girl
breaking societal veils.
There’s no turning back—
Free to love the woman I am.
I just knew
the cycle was breaking.
Misogyny’s shadow
tried to dim my flame,
But I rewrote the story,
reclaimed my name.
Loving freely,
Speaking freely,
Authentically being Me.
No pink dresses,
no whispered lies—
Just honest sweat
and steel in my eyes.
Emotional bruises
once told me I’d break,
Now every scar
is the strength I make.
In this masculine frame
beats a heart fierce and free—
A woman who loves like
she’s meant to be.
