only/just a thing

a poem about objectification and the violence that follows
CS: objectification, domestic violence, sexual violence, trauma

i am

you are

only/just

a thing

of beauty

or distraction

(they don’t

care which)

just/only

a thing

trussed up

hanging

by a thread

waiting to be

consumed

and shat out

tomorrow

so they can

do it all again

you are

i am also

just and only

a soft dead

white rabbit

whose softness

they will use

to warm them-

selves against

the arctic cruelty

their souls rot in

all the while

stamping their

feet, shouting

‘NOT ME!’

‘NOT ALL OF US!’

as they squeeze

the life out of our

soft, tender bodies