Poem: Live and Let Live

I once knew this irksome colleague
who on my first day at work, said
“Girl, this job is way out of your league”
and asked me to leave instead.

Why? I wondered, ‘I barely know this guy!
What does he have against me?’
My assistant at length chose to reply
and told me the whole story.

“Ma’am, you see, before you came
to work for this renowned newspaper,
that man you met the other day – his name
…pardon me, I don’t remember –
had burned the candles at both ends
for the post of Editor-in-Chief.
Alas! The boss instead recommends
your name for the post, to his grief.”

Later, however, I began to realize
that it did not end just there.
The reason for his strong despise
was neither legit nor fair.

The reason why he hated me more
than the men who held the post before
was because I was no man at all
but a woman – which made me ‘small’.

My mother once told me to live and let live
regardless of gender, beliefs or race.
Sadly, not all were taught to give
regard to everyone’s grace.

Wrote this for the Big Idea WizKid 2014 Poetry writing competition.