The Other Person

What is it about my body that enthralls you?
The same body that i hide away under layers of clothing that i carefully selected as an armor
As if everytime i step out my door I’m at war with you
The same body that I’m ashamed to face
The same body that I’d gladly put up for sale, but not to satisfy your primal desires,
No!
To give away because I’d rather trade it than bear the weight of it.

The same body that i curse and punish
with heinous task that it can’t accomplish
Or is it the body that i starve daily? The body i hate?
How is it that you like my body more than me?
How is it that you like my body more than you like me?

What is it about my body that gives you the right to call me a property?
One that you bargain for the price of my dignity
What is it about my body that drives you crazy?

Is my body your plaything?
Your bag, that you can rifle through?
Is my body all that there is to me?
All that you want from me?
I know I have a hole, the one i got when you stabbed me in the back that night as you backed me up against the wall, but that’s not the hole you want to fill is it?

Do I have a right to my body? Or am i supposed to lay still and smile as you assault me with your vile
Do I have a right to say no without you pointing out my naïveté?
My body is my business, but I didn’t know that you were part of the clientele

Do I have to sway to the catcalls?
Can I appreciate my body and still be free from your slime?
Why am i the slave? Why am i the prisoner?
Why should i be punished for your lust?
I thought friends meant that I have your trust?
But you wound me each night with your thrust

Is my body a gift to you from God?
Do you no longer need to beg for my consent?
And if i resist, why bribe me with money and blows that hit other places than my pride?
I thought i was supposed to be a daughter to you,
You’re clearly the same age as my father
What lessons do you hope to teach your sons?
Do i have to run from you and from them too?
What is it about my body that enthralls you?