October 17th, 2017

# Me Too

Don't cringe. Don't crawl; don't cower.
Don't be polite.
Don't minimize, shrink back or turn inward.
Don't be silent.
Don't give in; don't rationalize or sputter.
Don't avoid windows, mirrors or doors.
Get it out of you.

Don't constrict, contort or
Reframe.
Don't gasp or squirm.
Don't giggle behind your hand, laughing
Nervously in polite company.
Don't stutter. Don't self-abuse. Don't
"If only I..."

Don't wrap it around your body, holding
Tight the cloak of disgust. Don't
Push it aside for laundry and reports and sound bites.
Don't deny. Don't wave away. Don't
Suck it up to soldier on.
Don't shake your head when fat tears brace against your cheek and clog your neck.
Don't stagnate in pools of Rusted Life.

Don't lay down with it anymore, growing mold in your belly.
Don't regret to inform.
Don't be buried in heaps of sugar scorn, numbly absent.
Don't whisper. Don't be small.
Don't tuck away. Don't avoid.
Don't grant mercy to volatile sobs.
Get it out of you.

Be a Big Voice -
Circling the world in delicate,
Tender years or months or moments since
Your eyes and hands and mouth, lips
Teeth once ground into pillows or pavement or backyard bush under him.
Get it out of you. Be bold. Let it out of you. 
So you can be filled with something else.

JFH (c) 10.17.2017