by Tedria Smith
Who told you to claim my body?
You tower over me with your masculinity
Taking control.
Does no not mean no to you?
You’re only doing this because you have power
Your position in society has empowered you to do wrong.
Do you not hear the cry of help?
It’s written on my face
Dressed in tears
Here’s what I don’t understand
How could you ruin me or another woman?
Would you ruin your mother they way you have ruined me?
Would you make her feel paralyzed from the neck down the way I feel?
Yall don’t listen
Yall hard of hearing
And quite frankly just don’t care?
You must hear yes in your head all the time
You must find pleasure in sexual assault
I hope you end up in that jail cell
I hope you are silenced the way you have silenced me
I hope you feel shame, the same way I blamed myself for what happened.
THE VIRGINIA NORMAL 