Poem: 'The Talk'

 by Nicola Watson

I need to have the talk with your sister.

"What talk?" says my 11 year old son.

You wouldn't know the talk. 

It doesn't affect you like it will her,

The talk every girl knows. 

How to walk on the edge of the pavement by the road, 

To have your phone in your hand ready to use,

To walk in the road if there's an alley near by,

To be ready to run at any moment,

To leave a friend's house and say 'Goodbye',

And in the next breath

'Let me know when you're home.'

It's so automatic for girls or friends or mums

that we don't even realise we are protecting ourselves in doing it.

To have location finder on in WhatsApp so you can be tracked for safety, 

To send a picture and phone number if you meet someone new to friends, 

To park your car with the door in the road so you are not waiting on the pavement to get your keys.

To walk with your keys on your hand so you can use them if needed,

To be always in fight or flight mode if walking home in the dark.

And there's that word or that phrase.

The dark. 

A fearful time for women

Walking home - it should be safe,

Yet all of us have been paralysed - do I run? Where do I go?

You need to realise that I feel this fear still, as your mum,

That your sister will learn it too.

That you, as a boy and your brother,

Have the the power to change this too,

That you walk female friends home,

You make a woman feel safe

On the bus, tube, street.

The fear.

It needs to stop. 

She was only walking home.

For Sarah