Artemis

What if they took away the places you'd always walked. Replaced them with reminders of how often you'd fallen.

What if my pants weren't always too long. And I could run in them. Without my shoes on.

What if I wore a dress. And tried to ignore that sense of rape that overtakes when I walk out into the world lost inside it

What if I had said no to him. Spread my legs wide enough to show how empty I was with him inside.

What if I had worn those heels. Made myself tall enough to find his tongue. Sparse salvation the only kind there might've been.

What if I had just said yes. One more time. Let the dagger linger a little longer. Might we still be trying. To save each other.

What if I wore that dress. Let the rape take over. What if I knew why it's anything but random.

The holes in me I let you dissect.