RELAPSE

Trigger Warning: References to bulimia

left all alone

to be strangled

tonight

I am Kitty Genovese

but my assailant

does not smother me

with the same hands

as hers

the fist of five curled fingers

punishing my throat

is connected with mine

we are one and the same

I kneel in the bathroom

left all alone

in sputtering prayer

over the toilet bowl

one hand untying the knots in my stomach

reaching down my throat to pluck them out

one hand holding back my hair

so tonight I am strangled

victim of my own hand

and tonight I am Kitty Genovese

as neighbors press their ears to the walls

to better hear my struggle

but don't dare knock on the door

Reviews

[Nolo Segundo]

You seem to be young, so I'm impressed you know who Kitty Genovese was: a powerful metaphor, a powerful-- and deeply sad poem.

[Lost]

Thank you very much, I appreciate your kindness :) I learned about Kitty Genovese for the first time in the song Big Bird by AJJ, and her story has stuck with me since.