I Remember

Trigger Warning - Recounting a rape.

It was a long time ago that I last existed in the same space as you,

but every sense of mine carries a lasting memory of that night...

I feel the cold tile of that bathroom floor.

My cheek and my hands rest upon its smooth porcelain surface as I come to.

I hear the muffled thump, thump, thump of the music playing beyond the closed door.

It keeps time with my cries and pleas, and the echo of your frenzy.

I taste the rum, in all of its cloying sweetness, coating my tongue and throat.

My stomach roils and churns with its presence, and begs to be emptied.

I smell the vomit that sticks to my clothes and stays with me for days.

It carries remnants of regret, and I wretch memories of shame.

I see the blues, purples, and yellows that decorate my neck,

Adornments you bestow upon me to memorialize our time.

They linger for days, etching a path of destruction in their wake.

It was a long time ago, but I will never forget.