Poetry by Rowan Evans

Author’s Note

Her Story was born from frustration — not with women, but with the men who turn a woman’s past into a personal insult. This poem confronts the insecurity, entitlement, and emotional immaturity that drive so many men to treat a woman’s history like a threat instead of a testament to her strength.

This piece isn’t about blame; it’s about perspective. A woman’s story is not a competition, not a purity test, not a battlefield for fragile egos. It is something to honor — not to resent.

I wrote this to challenge that mindset, to hold a mirror to possessiveness disguised as devotion, and to remind anyone who needs to hear it that a woman owes no one an apology for having lived before you. She owes no one her silence. She owes no one her shame. She owes you nothing.

— Rowan Evans

Her Story
Poetry by Rowan Evans

Why do some guys
get so hung up on the past?
Why do you care so much,
what happened before you?
So what she’s lived a life before—
oh no, someone wanted to make her their wife before.
I’m so jealous, watch me act out, get hellish.
Nah, I’m just playin’, just joking around—
Because it’s not about the past for me,
getting that hung up on her before…
that’s blasphemy.

So if you can, answer me this…
why do so many guys get pissed?
Yeah, she has experiences—
that you can’t touch.
They happened before you,
why let them affect you so much?

Why does her story
feel like a threat
instead of a lesson
that she’s survived,
lived, loved, lost—
and still chose you
in this moment?

Why does her story
make you small,
when it should make you honored
to be part of the chapter
she won’t have to rewrite?

Why do you police her scars
as if she owes you
purity, silence,
a spotless record
to soothe your ego?

You want devotion
but shudder at evidence
that she lived
before your shadow
ever touched her skin.

But here’s the truth:
A woman with a past
isn’t a warning label—
she’s a masterpiece
restoring herself.
And if that scares you,
it’s not her history
you’re terrified of—
it’s your own reflection.

It’s because you don’t feel worth—
the attention, or affection.
You don’t feel like you
can handle her truth.
You can’t honor what she’s been through,
so it weighs on you, and it weighs heavy.
You do what you can to
try and prove
you’re ready.

But you’re not.
You’re just like every other guy,
sitting back, asking why?
Why not me?
I’ve been,
nice as can be.
Sounding like she owes you something,
but the truth is—
She owes you nothing.

If you enjoyed Her Story, you can feel free to explore The Library of Ashes…