he held my back in his hands
dove, face first, in my hair
clung to the flesh of my back
the bones at his fingertips ready to crack
and held onto me
like a bark to be broken and tied
and I whispered go ahead
I know nothing else
what did they teach you
he never asked
he enjoyed
the consequences of their actions against me
what I embodied
everything that came out of their heads
and bodies
they taught me to split into pieces
and let myself be reassembled by all hands
but my own
and then the women howled and moaned and whispered
shame into my body
shame onto my skin
for having absorbed
for having performed
the meaning of me according to them
but I kept my soul alive in the body you tried to kill
Croque-Melpomene 