There comes a time in one's life when the truth needs to be spoken. It is both liberating and terrifying, but silence is no longer an option. I hope others may benefit from my words.

There was a time in my life when I feared the dark,
I feared being alone, so afraid was I.
In the dark, things took place.
I could not control them. I had no control.
In the dark, others took control and they used me,
they hurt me. They did mean things to me and
I was afraid. I was afraid to tell, for they would kill me.
I was afraid to know, to remember, because
I knew I would tell. Most of all, I was afraid to see,
so I placed myself somewhere darker
than the darkness I had known.

I see the dark, the night.
My old house is empty and I am alone.
I clean and I sweep and I cook and I try
to stay busy so that I won't feel and I won't remember,
so distracted I become. But it never works.
It really never worked.

I saw them, their mean faces.
I saw them, their rough hands and coarse ways.
I heard them say that I would be killed
if I didn't do what they said.

I see the dark, the window on the porch lit
and I wait in my fear. I wait in my home
to be heard, to be loved, to be known,
to be real.
I wait in the corner where I've been cast,
in the shadows, in the corner,
I wait.