Discriminate Poem by Barbara Haskell

I could hit home runs and throw a ball fast,
how I longed to play on Little League,
I had good grades and longed to wear the sweater and badge
of safety patrol,
I longed to make things out of wood and needed tools,
I loved hiking and climbing hilltops and mountainsides
and needed boots,
but when I asked, they answered, 'No, you can't.'
Every time they said, 'No, you can't.',
I cried, 'Why not? '
and each and every time they answered,
they crushed the capable, yearning spirit within me,
as they replied, 'Because you are a girl! '