Old Papers

I found some old papers

My hopes and dreams as a child

Scribbles and pictures and writing

I wanted to be a fireman or a cowboy

A girl fireman or a girl cowboy

My uncle said, “No.”

Girls must be nurses or teachers or secretaries

Girls should not do boys jobs

Boys can be anything including nurses, or teachers, or secretaries

Draw pictures of what you can be

I drew pictures of what I did not want

Uncle smiled at me

I am not a fireman or a cowboy

I tore those old papers up

Threw them in the garbage where they belonged

Even back then