*Trigger Warning  – Rape; Assault; Gender-Based Violence, Violence Against Women*

Shadows fall on the brick wall,
as the clouds race past the moon,
in its glowing silver light
She stands.

Her tears run red and ragged,
as they mix with the blood from her soul,
in her tattered and dirty clothes,
She walks.

Her shoes make and uneven sound,
her stockings ripped to shreds,
with her arms wrapped her waist
She remembers.

The feel of his skin,
the smell of his breath,
the way he tore her body apart,
She trembles.

She stands in the night
with the shadows watching,
and the crescent moon shining
She cries.

© Manivillie Kanagasabapathy

AN: I wrote this poem back in 1998 – I can’t remember what inspired it for sure, I think it was an illustration of a girl, who had been assaulted walking under a lamp light. Sorry for the throwback – some changes. 

It’s funny; I wrote this poem on November 28, 1998 (according to my poetry journal) and whenever I re-type my older poems, so many things so through my head –

• What the F was I trying to say?
• Wow! I was a dramatic teenager.
• Totally needed a thesaurus back then (and probably now)
• Sometimes things don’t change
• Sometimes everything changes

AND FINALLY

• DAMN! Did I write that?!?!?!