the sum of all parts

my breasts do not make
me a women
how can they
men have breasts

often times
their breasts are
much larger than
mine

my breasts
have always been
small
wearing training bras

then graduating to
a size 32AA
sounds like a battery
or something you'd get at a hardware store

there was a time
when I wore bras
colored ones
cotton ones

but my skin did not
care for these
I'd try and count how many
pimples I'd have on my back

so I gave them up
and wore bandaids across
my nipples
and later tape

my nipples always seemed
odd to me
much darker than my skin
like a raspberry with small bumps

I'd poke at them
play with them
ask them why
they are how they are

wonder if I could live
without them
so I wouldn't have to do
tape or bandaids

my nipples gave me away
of being born a female
no matter how short my hair
or what clothes I wore

these parts I have
are not the sum of me
they were what I was born with
but do not define me

I do not hate them
but I don't want to be bound by them either
my breasts
my vagina

I do not hate them
but I don't want to be
bound by them
either