I know you didn’t

I know you didn’t just order me around

like I signed a contract that if I do whatever you say

I will get paid.

If that’s the case, the working conditions in this workplace aren’t in place.

In a place where they are supposed to be.

To be treated with respect and dignity was supposed to be

Find the location.

Your inability to say please and thank you was my confirmation.

Confirmation that this respect you keep on demanding,

you can’t return it.

I know you didn’t

I know you didn’t just dismiss me

like I’m in military training and you are my commander.

All I wanted was to talk about us.

Now I’m a soldier claiming my rights and following procedures.

I tried to find a gentle approach

because it always seemed like I was attacking you.

Now I’m a victim of victimisation,

my right to freedom of speech taken away from me.

I vented my heart out to a slavery master.

I mean, really?

Is this relationship an eighteen-hundred-slavery practice?

When will I be freed from the chains of oppression?

When will I be released from the whip hand

and the unhealing wound

caused by your words that cut through my body,

soul, and spirit?

When will I be liberated?

As I await the abolition of this love of slavery

I urge you not to teach a class you never passed.