MYTHS | breaking.the.belief | Poetry

MYTH: Children who are abused will become abusers
They tell me I look like him, that my eyes echo his existence and that he grows upon my brain like weaving jasmine. But I hug my mother with kindness, and I sing my sister to sleep, spilling melodies he could not hear. I do not share his hand, my body is my body and my mind stands alone. I will never forget how to love, the way he forgot how to love. I will never raise my hand to the temple of another and hurt them, nor will I bleed rage like he did. I am my own ocean, capable of understanding that drowning another does not make me powerful, it makes me void, uninviting. 

MYTH: Women who are wearing revealing clothes are “asking for it”
I was a child in pyjamas, a 12 year old in school uniform, a team member in my work attire, a friend on a night out, wearing whatever I wished to. You say that I asked to be assaulted, that my showing skin was similar to flower fields and he had gardener’s hands. I did not ask to be stripped of my dignity, to have men ask how much they should pay to have predator lips. I did not ask to be trampled, taken like a monument, a bragging right. I would never ask for that.

A Note From Ambient Heights: The upcoming anthology, Misplaced Devotion: Works About Love will conclude with a section on raising awareness for sexual abuse, domestic violence, mental health, exploitation, and more. This section will include several pieces from @breaking.the.belief. If you would like to submit work for this section, please email ambientheightspublishing@gmail.com.