just like other girls

i will always interrupt some unimportant boy

when he tries to say that i'm not like other girls

as if it's some luxurious gift

like a dozen long-stemmed roses

or a crown meant for a queen

no. wrong. i am exactly like every woman i've ever known

i am a medley of mannerisms and a patchwork of principles

that i learned and copied and adopted from all the girls who have touched my life

some permanent like tattoos and others as temporary as the frost

covering blades of grass those first cold mornings in november

my laugh is the sound i replicated from a girl i knew when i was eight

she had the best laugh i'd ever heard

no one could resist laughing along

my sister taught me my entire skincare routine

and i get to think of her every night because of it

like it's her hands on my face helping me wash my day away

my best, most ridiculous phrases and sayings all come from my mom

i can't believe i ever cringed when people told me i was just like her

as if i couldn't see her perfectly in the way my eyes crinkle when i laugh

and in the darkest part of the night, i hear my best friend

as she whispers stories about the strongest girl she knows

to help me chase all my fears away

every breath in my lungs is her

i love women.

the ones i talk to every day

and see when i scroll on tiktok

and knew when we were nothing but girls on the playground

before we knew love and heartbreak

before we learned how to grow wings

how lucky are we to live in this time of history

when womanhood is celebrated

when the girls who build each other up are revered

and those who tear others down are reviled

i don't know exactly when the narrative changed

i can remember loudly hating pink as a child

and saying that i just got along with boys better

and pretending i didn't break when those girls called me fat

i don't know when it changed

but thank god it did