Love Poem: Battle of Struggles
Brandi Smith Avatar
Written by: Brandi Smith

Battle of Struggles

He said, "I will never really know the struggles of a black man."
Well he has clearly forgotten that I have to be more than a woman.
You see I am mommy & daddy to a beautiful little girl.
I have to serve, protect and provide for her place in this beautifully crazy world.
I have to be the father my daddy and her daddy didn’t have the courage to be.
I have to carry that load all on me.
Not to mention, in heels to ensure I’m still keeping my feminine appeal.
With a smile and grace to disguise how I truly feel.
I have to embrace my own desires later, whenever that maybe.
Because I am committed to a greater cause, my family!
And because I’m still woman and that first, they still too discredit me.
Trying to conform and limit my abilities.
So that man shoe, I have definitely filled.
Because that man pressures, demands & etc I also feel.
And not just second hand like smoke.
As my journey includes different men with different strokes.
So the struggle is far from sexist and that I can respect. 
In fact, the struggle is how and where we all can connect.