The silence grips my heart

Hangs over me like a dark group of clouds just waiting to rain

Don’t speak.

Don’t speak.

I tell myself

Stupidity is not a crime

And you are not a cop

You do not need to correct them

You should not correct them

You will not have been the first to tell them

And they won’t listen

You will always be the sensitive defensive girl when you speak out

Their tongues only hold laughter

Forget sincerity

That’s why they’re laughing now

And you will never get them to stop

And they know

They know that this hurts people

They know that it’s wrong

To use others trauma as the punchline to their jokes

But they will never bother with caring

Arrogance and pride blind them

They can never be wrong

Will never be wrong

But you know in this room there is a girl with a thumping heart

Hammering in her ears

Because these boys thought it funny

Thought it okay

To make a rape joke

And she already feels dirty

Already blames herself

Already feels stupid

And these boys have now made her feel invalid

Made her feel even more like she’s being overdramatic

Like her hurt shouldn’t hurt because look at these boys laughing

And you know

She needs to know

That she’s not alone

And that these boys aren’t right

 

I open my mouth

Let my words curl around their throats like a noose

The same way their’s did to her

And I tell them

Exactly

What

They

Did

Wrong

And instead of laughing it off

I have them cowering in fear