¡TW!
6:04 a.m.
Tolerance is not the equivalent of consent
and it seems that something so axiomatic
is to be blatantly ignored
to those who choose to stain innocent silk with red wine:
you taught my mother at a very young age to teach her children
to not let others touch them in any way
to never be left alone in a room with anyone
to never let anyone other than yourself know what
your soft skin felt like
to know what my baby powdered skin felt like
beneath the tips of a man's calloused fingers
and how I tolerated
but I did not give consent
and those are two very different things
I did not fully comprehend
and so I am forced
to teach my children the things
my mother tried to teach me
the pattern she tried to break
because she knows how it hurts
but doesn't know how it hurt me
because silence had become my best friend
in an effort to believe that her ignorance is bliss
this time around, I'll believe it
and I'll teach my children
to protect themselves from a world
that refuses to teach their sons and daughters
that tolerance is not the equivalent of consent
.s
YOU ARE READING
it's 5 a.m. now
Şiira taste of everything that has made life a little more bitter and on rare occasions; a little sweeter | just an informal way to get thoughts out, i guess
