I am a girl (#believeher)

I am a Girl. (#believeHer)


An autumn morning
I am six years old 
walking to school
kicking autumn leaves.
 
A new immigrant
Wearing baggy pants
carrying a leather satchel
my hair short and dark.
 
A gang of Anglo ‘big boys’ surround me,
“Are you a girl or a boy?”
I am confused, 
no-one has ever questioned me
in this way before. 
 
“I am a girl!” I say. 
“Prove it then!” they jeer.
They grab me.
I am sobbing.
I cry for my mother.
 
I am a girl! I am a girl

(Published Four W thirty three, New Writing, 2021)