I don't know if content like this is welcome here. I thought that probably many here can relate and I needed to vent. But I don't want to spam the community with something it wasn't intended for, so please feel free to tell me if this doesn't fit here and I'll delete the post.

I really love being outside at night and I would love to go for walks after dark. But when I'm alone outside at night, like a few days ago, I often get very tense and can't enjoy it as much as I want to. It's partly because of bad experiences and I guess partly because everyone always tells women how dangerous it is (not completely unjustified of course). I hate it and it makes me really sad sometimes. So I vented my feelings by writing this poem:

I want to walk the streets at night.
I don’t want to be told to hide --
To be careful -- not to risk
Walking solo, even brisk.

I want to see the stars shine bright,
Watch the day’s slow-fading light.
Not to glance with every step
If there’s someone at my back.

I want to smell the flowers sweet
In the night air by the street;
Not the beer-breath and the sweat
Of a slow-approaching threat.

I want to hear the crickets chirp,
Not the hooting of some twerp,
Cat-calls, jeers, a “compliment”
Which make me feel so impotent.

I want to feel alone and free,
The night’s invigorating breeze.
Not fear that if I’m not alert,
I’ll get grabbed and I’ll get hurt.

Feel free to share your own thoughts and experiences in the comments or vent a bit with me!

Deep in the darkness
The fear slowly rises;
Down in the shadows
Where gloomy thoughts dwell.

Watch as it waxes,
There are no disguises,
No hope of evading
Its all-crippling spell.