When they stripped me of my dignity
lashing me -
for all of our community to see

My body a damaged cage
wrinkled in the square
pathetic and quivering.

My smile was clawed from my face
by savages
who did not believe in 'happy'.

They beat me 'til I was broken
bent out of shape,
had I been a contortionist it would have been painless
but oh! it was pain I felt as every inch of me
was broken and shattered - snapped like a twig.

Yet no mark could the human eye see
I was just a girl
lying in the rain, whose touch burned like acid.

My clothes did not resemble the tatters I felt them to be,
my hair was brushed and not the state they had yanked it into,
not an inch of makeup was smudged across my face.

Funny the effect a few words can take.