patriarchy
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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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Growing up with a bullyFor a father,Can twist up a young human’s guts,No two humans respond,The exact same way. Some learn to be anything,To survive the next fight.Their brains learn,To accept any challenge. Chaos swarming his bones,Rattling his growing mind. He learned what he needed Was total control. Building a life, Escaping those early days.…
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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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I read somewhere that you should make peace with death every single day. I couldn’t do that when I Believed. Death was this passing thing. Not quite pretend, But not quite real. This gray space where questions couldn’t be answered. That’s where faith came in. Setting aside the finality Of death until one’s last breath.…
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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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I see him stamping ants In their home, while they’re collecting food. I sat next to him, watchingThe magnifying glass, Ants on fire, At his hands. They did not matter to him,What good are little things?Where do ant burning boys go When they are grown? Do their fingers tear into peaches? Do their hands wrap…
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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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There was a timeI dreamed of having a stalker.You know, Someone who really took an interest in me. A man willing to wait outside buildings with a baseball bat to scare off anyone who thought they’d have my hand. How endearing, I used to think. Lurking in the shadowsMemorizing every inch of my existenceWaiting for…
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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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Trickles of rage Pool in my palms. The acid threatens to shoot out my eyes again. The unmistakable sound of a man’s upper handed shake. Daring my knees to buckle,begging my will to break. Invisible scars line my cheeks from the men before him. The ones that sharpened my tongue before I had the chance…
Healing Birds Fly Again 