But don't know how to quantify
What happened,
This poem is for you.

Remember that just because your mouth cannot cradle
The word ****
Between clenched teeth like you know it should,
Doesn't invalidate what happened to you.

I didn't - don't,
Know how to describe
What happened
To me either.
And while I know my friends had good intentions
When they insisted that, yes,
It was ****,
And that, no,
It was not my fault,
It feels as if they are shoving
These words into my lungs,
Bile burns the back of my throat and
I can't breathe.

The next morning,
My mind refused to admit
What my body knew and
My stomach threatened to desert me as
My voice had deserted me
The night before, and
A tremor tunneled it's way into
My bones, to make a home
Beneath my skin like he did.
It hasn't stopped yet,
I fear it never will.

For days afterwards,
I lied awake, trying in vain
To erase the memory
Of his touch,
Focusing on tracing the cracks
On the ceiling instead of the
Trails his hands etched
Into my skin.

To even think of it
As ****
Is to give it a name, to
Make it tangible and real when
I just want to forget.
But when we refuse to name
Our reality, we are giving it
More power than it deserves,
And I am tired of being afraid
Of my own tongue.

But I still can't call it ****,
Not yet,
And that's okay for right now
Because, one day,
I will find the strength
To say his name.