People

Beth O'Brien

I tell my boyfriend whenever I am on my period,
or whenever I’m catcalled
because I want him to know that one is natural,
the other is not but they both happen
to women all the time.

I told him when a man shouted at me running
from across the road; When an Uber driver
slowed down beside me and took time
out of his day to wolf-whistle; and how at 7:30am,
a drunk man called me “Oi”, asked me where
I thought I was going, before telling me where I should.

His most recent reply was:
‘People are so weird!’ And by, “people”
He meant, “men”
And he didn’t even realise.