Like a carnivore hungry for the flesh of its prey.
Starved for what was never his to eat.
Stripped of my body.
Stripped of my power.
Stripped of my choice.
Left there frozen.
Empty.
Naked.
Afraid.
Oh, how I wish I was the only woman
to know this pain.
Oh, how I wish I was in this fight alone.
The fight to reach the surface
when there is no air left to breathe.
The fight to rediscover your breath
when your body no longer feels like home.
The fight of reliving the moment I left my body every time I close my eyes.
How cruel it is
to be stripped of your soul.
Your safety.
Your freedom.
Your trust.
Your life force.
How cruel that it can be taken all at once.
And by another human being.
Another living, breathing,
heart-beating human being.
How?
Why?
And when does it stop?
When do women get to exist in a world
without living in fear
that this will happen to them?
Or perhaps the more devastating question—
When do women get to exist in a world
without living in fear
that it will happen AGAIN?
This should not be the norm.
This should never have been the norm.
My body is not for the taking.
Her body is not for the taking.
To the men of the world, it is time to do fucking better.
