adoptee
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Magnifying glass,in his hand.Smile ear to ear. Ants run from,The fire coming near. When did I become His ant to experiment on?Was it after the shock collarWrapped around his throat By a hand much larger Than our own? Maybe it was before then,When the bruises Covering my legs,Weren’t from the sports I played. I blame him not For these things, A child…
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Does the lamb know She was raised In a lion’s den? Do the lions knowThey infected her bones, When they gnawed On her like a passing snack? Was her mother A sheep or A subservientLioness? Do the lions know, She was never a sheep, But a tiger, That took a while, To find her stripes and fangs? Their lamb escapedin the sinking dusk. Uncertain if she…
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“This ones real nice to me!” I’d cry about my next crush.“Because boys only want one thing. Trust me, I’ll help you find the right one.” Daddy kept the boys away from me. Looking back at the Wreckage of my love affair’s resume. It’s a sad and broken scene, Full of brutal insensitivity. But each…
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There’s a secret hiding inside her. She wants everyone to know,But then again, she doesn’t. Many parts make up her heart. With their own names,They each want their own stage. The meanest one Rattles against her iron cage,She demands they bow toHer seething rage. But once you’ve met her,She can’t be unknown. Chomping on the…
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Mom, are you watching with disapproval?Dad, are you saying what a victim I play?Are you both still running away from the pain you’ve made? A little girl learning how to do flips,Just to get you to look at her. Breaking her back in pieces,So she could bend the right way for you. There’s no pressure…
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Isn’t that what you taught her? With every remark from your greasy lips,That pushed boiling tears To sizzle down her face. Didn’t you teach her to grit her frozen teeth and endure the baron cold? Didn’t you teach her to wear pain like a tiara,As though it makes her something great? Relentlessly fighting against your…
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Sliced to bitsIn meer moments as your fingers invaded me. My soul died once, And dead it stayed. My body: the haunted carcuss dies a thousand deaths. Slowly, Day by day. Ruined RelationshipsJob loss.This body bleeds out endlessly the things You did to me. Refusing to refuse to rise,This body drags me through this life,…
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Another day trying to turn my brother raping me,Into poetry. Another day trying to make art of my life’s deepest pain. Betrayal is a curse,Granted by someone you once trusted. Brother’s are kind, Brother’s are protective,Brother’s are safe. Mine was not. Who made him that way? A question I can’t leave behind. Hating his little…
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I’d rather not have any feelings today. So I woke up and washed them down the drain, I got in my car and they came right back.Shooing them out the windows Worked like a charm. Until I was doing the dishes, They bubbled out of my eyes,So I scrubbed them and shoved them into the…
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Safe hands Touch only when wanted. Safe hands Caress gently up, willing and excited legs. Safe hands Hold other hands softly, Never by force. Safe hands Only slide into pants, Directly invited inside. Safe hands Never pull back to strike. Safe hands Don’t squeeze fragile things. Safe Hands Don’t hurt things. Safe hands Don’t take…
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Snuggled in tight, his arm around my neck. His legs wrapped around mine to hold me down. My flailing screams,Bursting out of control. My small body,Shrieking for help. He couldn’t hold my feelings long enough to walk me through them. So he held onto me, until my feelings stopped. There was no escape. His headlock, an ironclad cage. Foaming at my rabid…
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On nights when I toss and turn. There are no cold sides left on my pillow, I imagine I’m a maiden that’s been sent off across the sizzling pink pond. I imagine they sent me here to find a better life. I force my heart to believe mothers sending me letters, I just can’t receive. …
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Fingernails clipped with chattering teethRed bumps protrude from a scabbed and blotchy face. Hair frizzed and fraying at the half blond ends. She peers into her reflection, Do homes exist without the sting of humiliation dancing on liquored up lips?She is uncertain. She knows she cannot roam their hallowed halls anymore, The gallows, a couch…
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Dad, I don’t want to look at you today. I don’t want to think about the hoots and hollers of pure joy when we sat atop those snowy mountains. When all the stress crinkles in your forehead melted away. No, I don’t want to think about those days. They make me wonder too much about…
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Churning eats the bottom of my stomach. My feet drag across the carpet floor. Denial rots a top my teeth. Don’t check the phone,they still haven’t called. A disappointment I grow weary of feeling. Shaking it off, I exit the shower. Would I even answer if they rang?Wiping away the morning of mourning. Onward, with…
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Did they know I was drowning?He told me we weren’t actually related His words are leeches inside my brainSucking the belonging out of my head They were sharksI was a birdNot really their sisterJust barley their daughterHanging by thread Laced round my neck Trying to show themI could swim
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What makes the pain go away? When I lay my father down to rest, I won’t be concerned with the worst of his crimes. Yet, for years, his sins kept me awake each night. And still, his choices keep me away.Am I sad for all he’s done, or am I sad for all that I’ve…
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Every dagger plunged through porcelain bones,Shattered my pieces, scattered on the floor. No blood to be found, Just remnants of a once hollow place.Shattered glass shaking, pulling jagged edges together again. Not even a tear could she shed. Sat pretty on Mama’s shelf Shattered in daddy’s shop. What would be left when she was all…
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My eyes squint, lips quiver. Don’t look at me.The flood gates open, Goop slides out my nose. The churning stops my breakfast from going down I rev my engine, I’m on the run Get away from me I cover my mouth,bile’s about to blow Brown locks whip wet pink cheeks,The ache of hearts incinerated sets…
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He told me we weren’t actually related His words are leeches inside my headSucking the belonging out of my head They were sharksI was a birdNot really his sisterJust barely their daughterHanging by thread Laced round my neck Trying to show themI could swim


