When women quietly tell

how they were raped

or that thing he did

without permission

“I froze

I fought

And I just lay there in case

he did something worse…”

She was drunk when she told me

but she wasn’t back then

even if she was

it shouldn’t have happened

I went home and I cried

when she told me, quietly

that haunted look in her blue eyes

sometimes

made sense

And I wanted to mother her

more than ever

so

we had more wine

and I did nothing much

just sat there listening in case

she said something worse…

I went home and I cried

holding her story inside

hoping pain could be cured

even slightly

by being spoken and heard