Hidden Poem by Carolyn Brunelle

How could you understand
if you never really knew me;
the me that was never free to be.
With no real voice
or choice,
girls didn't need to be heard
or be smart or have dreams,
just look pretty and marry well.
So I was what you wanted
what you needed me to be
but that young girl
wasn't the real deal.
You never knew
the me I always was inside;
because you wouldn't have liked
that I wasn't like you at all.