Monsters come in different forms.
Here I am sitting in a dark empty space
Reeling from the doings of the monster
that scooped me off my nerves.
Dirtying a brown piece of paper with words
that can only explain what he did to me.
Refilling my mind with aches that echo
each time I attempt to tell what he did to me.
He doesn’t have a name and an address
as he does as he pleases.
He took me like a veld fire running wild at night.
I couldn’t cry; he held my lips with his tight fists.
I couldn’t escape; he locked the doors.
And I couldn’t talk back; he slashed me
with a leather belt and cursed me.
My monster told me I’m of no value.
He put my confidence away
for as long as he was with me.
My monster threatened to kill me
and I hid behind Mama’s dress, shaking
its pleats like they haven’t been shaken enough.
My monster came in the form
of a jealous and abusive father
… and I didn’t ask for it.