I can’t seem to get this out of my mind,
Memories flood my while I sing.
Trying to avoid them, I get louder.
Until no longer singing I scream.

Begging for some sort of refuge,
Knowing there is not an escape.
As if I’m marked by that word,
Not ‘victim’, not ‘attacked’, but ****.
It’s as if everyone could clearly see it,
Etched into my face.

Making escape impossible,
I find myself in a constant race.
Running to the point of exhaustion,
Once again failing, falling, then retreating,
Into my silent, black space.

-Marie
07/30/2006