I read the page before me and I stopped,
Breathing, thinking, even being
For a moment
I put it down and paced,
Back and forth in my room
Swallowing back tears
I sit with hand over mouth

These stories cannot be true,
And this cannot be history
No,
No,
No,
I plead with what has already become,
Do not let this horror be real

Women and children
All shapes and all sizes
With different histories
Colors,
Mothers and fathers
Beaten ******
*****, tortured, and humiliated
Left to die
By not just one,
But many men

I would
Lay down in the street,
And die like a dog
To stop these hearts from breaking
And their bruised legs from shaking
I would scream out in desperation
And seek revenge on the devil
To protect the victims
Because I am a victim,
And to raise up the little voices,
Because I too once had a little voice

I would make them sorry
For what they did
And the fear they caused
To the small ones
And the vulnerable ones

I would bleed out every drop of blood
Hold the weak and the trembling
Fight until breath
Could no longer fill my lungs
To end it
And I will