Tell Me You Love Me

How dare you tell me 'I am not like most girls,'
when those 'girls' you refer to
are my sisters and mothers, my friends,
the very solace and the kindness I have sought
when the worst things in my life have happened?

How dare you assume
I should take that as a compliment,
and beam at you like it is praise
when you are alienating me
from the very core
of my proudly female being?

There are a thousand ways
to tell me you love me,
and making my sisters small
to make me big
isn't one of them.

Tell me you love me, but not because I am different.

Tell me you love me, just because you do.