So I Stayed Silent.
I was 43 years old
I swiped right, but something was obviously wrong
A few sips of my drink and your smile got fuzzy.
I felt dizzy, falling into your open arms
Waking half-naked in the back of my car.
My pictures on the app were suggestive
My shirt low cut.
I must have been asking for it.
I was 22 years old
We were just friends, and the condom slipped or
Did you purposely peel it off and slip back in me?
No matter how much I begged, you wouldn’t stop
No matter how much I scrubbed,
I could not rid myself of your stench.
I aborted that child, and the memory forever Haunts me.
I probably asked for this.
I was 17 years old.
You were my boyfriends’ best friend, my friend too.
I woke up in the middle of a deep sleep
With you inside me.
The shame made me hide it for so long,
When the truth came out, my boyfriend left me.
It was obviously my fault; you were a good guy.
I was asking for it.
I was 15 years old.
He was 30, and very charming.
He said I was mature for my age, made me believe it.
Told me I was ready, even when I knew I wasn’t.
Told me I would get in trouble if I did not keep it quiet,
Then moved on to all of my friends.
You were teaching us how to be adults.
We asked for it.
I was 8 years old.
We were in the middle of school,
you took me to use the bathroom.
I did not know what was going on,
nor what to say about it
So I stayed silent, for years.
There is no way in hell I was asking for it.
I won’t stay silent anymore.