every single letter of my name
burned across your teeth
ashes in your throat
girlhood velocitized
*
she ushered herself to the ground floor
of his building
beneath the staircase
amongst the lack of light
the absence of lies
and opened herself up
she ended what someone else had started
a long time ago
*
I abnormalise the things you muttered onto my skin
*
the words you used against me
travelled far across my bones
*
you taught me that I shouldn’t seek
verbs for your actions
l o v e you called it
one verb for everything
found and picked
that one I was allowed to use
and you abused
*
and now she looked at this manboy her age
adonising them all to a threatening degree
efflowered herself, made herself raw and vulgar
fed them all before she knew who she was
Croque-Melpomene 