deepundergroundpoetry.com

Survivor

They always warn you about the men across the street, or the predators lurking at the parks with invisible puppies.
But they never warn you about the ones across the world, who can still hold so much power.
I'd met him when I was only thirteen, and now that I think of it again he must've been twenty.

I wish that someone would've noticed what was happening to me, or I would've said something.
Because even now, I still am afraid of him. When I have my bad days it is hard for me not to imagine that he isn't lurking around every dark corner of my house.
My stomach still drops when I hear his name or when I see that he is online.

I wish someone would've pulled me aside and told me it wasn't my fault,
That I was going to be alright, and that older men shouldn't have interests in little girls.
I wish that I wouldn't get so scared when I have my bad days and he slowly slips his way back into my mind.
But then there are the days when I'm no longer afraid, and I trade my fear for anger.
And I hate him with everything in my heart, because I outlived him; I survived.