I am trying to tell you
\nbut knife-edged dry ribbons
\nspill from my mouth.<\/p>\n
You ask what happened.
\nI tell you about the humiliation,
\nthe intimidation.<\/p>\n
The lies told to embarrass
\nto destroy trust; to break apart the bonds we shared
\nto which he was not a part.<\/p>\n
I remember the threats of physical violence,
\nisolating me from others;
\nfeeling vulnerable and unsafe at work and where I lived.<\/p>\n
Almost wanting the blows to fall
\nto shatter the anticipation of not knowing
\nwhen they would come <\/p>\n
But he was clever
\ndrawing the torment out to its apex
\nalways just short of culmination<\/p>\n
amplifying a festering heat of fear and hate.
\nYou ask
\nand I am trying to tell you.<\/p>\n
But you interrupt What, this doesn\u2019t measure up?<\/p>\n Am I to choke up these ribbons of pain Until they make of this something you can understand, These knife-edged memories My throat is sore; I am trying to tell you but knife-edged dry ribbons spill from my mouth. You ask what happened. I tell you about the humiliation, the intimidation. The lies told to embarrass to destroy trust; to break apart the bonds we shared to which he was…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3072,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-marathon-poem"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3072"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100507"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100507\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":100519,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100507\/revisions\/100519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nand say, I thought something really awful happened.
\nI thought you were raped<\/em>.<\/p>\n
\nuntil they unfurl and twist at your feet,
\na pretty bow?<\/p>\n
\nsomething
\nreally awful<\/em>?<\/p>\n
\nare no longer to my taste.
\nI\u2019m going. <\/p>\n
\ntime for waiting is
\nover.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"