I Do (Not Want To Do This) Poem by Jessica Lindsey

I cried the night before I got married,
My dream was coming true, but whenever
Dreams come to life, they haunt you
Like nightmares do.
You got upset, did not understand
This was not what you had had planned
You wanted to celebrate with sex and the wine
That I knocked over on the night stand.
I didn't want you, I wanted my mom
Wanted to be little again
Curled up in her lap, blissfully free
Of the expectations of men.
Realization rolled in like an unbidden fog
I was signing my sentence to life
In a prison of dishes and laundry and kids
Chained to the title of Wife.
If I could return to that tragic night
Before I signed the pact
I'd quit my crying and get out of bed
And run and never look back.