Days past innocently abused
Took on the embarrassment of others
Carried it like a shield
One time, still cringing at the memory,
a man tricked me into a hotel bathroom
under pretext of business
I bought the lie, didn’t understand
My skin did crawl
in red-cheeked shame
I needed to forgive myself for what he did
Today no more victim
Respect lost into a pool of a boneless former self
My mirror has regained an image self-composed
What he did, what I chose out of unknowing
are truly unrelated worlds
The need for shame beheaded
Relief spouts out of the gushing severed spine
A new head now grows there
Fertile with a truth of my own
