To every snap chatter whose name I do not recognize.
To every Facebook profile picture that I decline
I am sorry.
Not that I am a great loss
But for the judgment I place without knowing of you.

Most people are a product of their raising
However I am simply a product of my experience.
I was raised to love and respect those I don’t know.
But my experience has taught me to look for every red flag.
Even if it’s not there.

I turn a blind eye to the good things you tell me about yourself
Because I simply do not believe you.
I want to
believe you that is.
But my experience has convinced me that mankind is never good.

Man being the root word.
When I see a man I feel instant fear.
Men have only ever placed their hands on my innocence without persmission.
They are never sorry.

When I see a man I remember.
I remember so many nights of pain and desperation.
I remember the court room full of people that felt so lonely.
I remember being alone while I had to face you.

I remember my childhood.
My lack of a male figure
except the one that decided that 7 wasn’t too young.
I remember the shame. And my mother telling me that family doesn’t hurt.
That’s I was lying.

I remember my divorce.
My ex husband who always liked to drink.
Yell, throw things, wave his gun around.
The one who broke me in new ways.
Taught me that my lowest could go lower.

And from these things, I gained experience.
Experience in which, has made me who I am.
So too the men I haven’t met,
I am sorry.
Cause maybe, you are not what I have experienced.