W: the other scarlet letter

as a writer, I don't praise or condemn,
I simply report.


they say all men are created equal.
my question is, what about women?

we've all heard this too common story:
a girl-child, without a loving home, without the
education or money to escape the neighborhoods
she was forced to survive in. Heaven or Hell

bestowed upon her a certain prettiness that
attracted the stares of baser men, palpable
stares that burned, like a lit cigarette being
pressed into her flesh.

she learned the truth of survival at an early age.
if you're hungry, fuck somebody, you'll eat.
if you're cold and tired, fuck somebody, you'll have
a bed to sleep in. whatever you want or need, fuck

somebody, you'll get it. she accepted the fate that
was mapped out for her. her declaration was signed
and sealed. she resolved to be nothing more
than an unfeeling, uncaring whore.

(if you look closely, you can just make out the
fading W branded into her chest.)