a letter to miss Doe

so here we find ourselves measuring the bruises
on our thighs together four five six inches of purple
green yellow fingerprints pulling open the entrance
to where we make our homes, where we create life,
where we bleed red. | you tell me of walking home alone
after, there was nothing anyone could take from you
now. i told you of walking home alone as well. there is
nothing left to be scared of now. | i find where he pulled
out your ruby hair, you find where he stained my sheets
& you find the bed i slept in for four months after he
touched me. | i find the walk you avoid taking for months |
we begin speaking in the same tongue, we begin
speaking in the same silence | they walk,
they walk, they walk, into brilliant futures where
they become lawyers, where they become athletes,
where they become politicians who make laws
that say it is not rape if they are not bleeding it is not
rape if there are not signs of struggle it is not rape it
is not rape | you & i meet in a shower where we both
scrub one another, my skin turns red under the water,
your skin turns white under the water. | i go back in time
& i take you home. you go back in time & you take me home.
we are safe & we are well. we do not have troubles sleeping
at night. we never stop eating. we never lose friends who
hear us mumbling about walking in front of cars. we never
face court battles or battling our own silence in countries
where we cannot speak out loud. | our futures are always
bright & we do not carry shame on our backs hunched
over facing forever. | we never measure our bruises
together, we never carry their laughter in our ears.
we are bright & we are safe. we are not purple, we
are not blue.

By Erin Taylor

Biography:

Erin Taylor is a Tulsa based writer who is always somewhere else. She has a chapbook of poetry OOOO (Bottlecap Press) and a forthcoming micro chap you look tired (Ghost City Press 2016). Her work has appeared recently at Alien She Zine, Metatron, Potluck Mag, Moloko House, and others. She blogs at amarettoandslayin.tumblr.com and tweets @erinisaway.