They Call It Respect

They call it respect
When they ask what she wants.
They call it helping
When they ignore what she says
Or simply replace it with
What they think is best
Arguing and arguing
Like walls, hard, unmoving
Until she accepts it,
And they get their way.

She calls it life
When her choice is ignored
She calls it pointless
When she tries to be heard
Or cries there in silence
Where they cannot see
Sinking and bleeding
Crushed by the word, “worthless,”
A word that not one of them
Would think she could be.