Poem: I'll Mary When I Want

Eileen Piri

I’ll marry when I want

my mother can’t force me to marry

my father can’t force me to marry

my uncle, my aunt, my brother, my sister

cannot force me to marry

no one in the world can force me to marry.

I’ll marry when I want

even if you beat me

even if you chase me away

even if you do anything bad to me

I’ll marry when I want.

I’ll marry when I want

but not before I am well educated

and not before I am all grown up.

I’ll marry when I want.