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i want to hollow out the broken shards of
myself
that lurk behind my skin
you scraped the insides of me with your dirty fingernails and then
blamed me for bleeding.
i was silent, choking on screaming words,
but they made a demigod out of you.

you weren’t hiding in the bushes
waiting to jump out;
and maybe that was your best disguise.
a wolf dressed in sheep’s clothing
but we still let you shear us into silence

it’s been four years.
there have been 4 others like you.
—and they said that only odd numbers were unlucky
 
But i’ll keep writing poems that have teeth
—biting where it hurts
because: “this is what happens when women speak their truth:
We Can Slay Dragons”

 1. quote from Lisa Bloom, Attorney for three Bill O’Reilly accusers