The Forest

The Forest


“I’ve found the perfect place”.

I’m sure your intentions were pure,

This moment was meant to be ours.

But I reject.

“Why don’t you trust me?”

You have given me many reasons to trust

And very few to not,

But I am a female

And therefore, by nature,

A target.

I’m sorry if me protecting myself

Offends you.

I hoped you would understand.

But if you don’t,

I will do the understanding.



Alas, I cannot control how the stars align themselves,

Nor the way life inconveniences us at the moments we needed convenience most,

Nor the way biology categorised predators and their prey

By the colour of their skin,

By whom they love,

By that in which they believe

And by the gender they were assigned at birth.

But do you want me to be honest?

No, I don’t trust you.

And not because you have done anything wrong.

But you must understand;

Anxiety stems from previous experience.

And no matter how pretty the face or the soul or the gesture that follows,

Facts are facts,

And this scares me into my shell,

Afraid to break out because

Quite frankly,

I have managed this far quite well alone.



And as much as I wish to surrender to the passion

we share amidst thin sheets, heavy breaths

and powerful conversations,

I can’t.

Because I will not be another statistic.

I will not allow myself to fall victim

To the hands of a male

Again.



2:30



Dedication:

Dedicated to a special person who may not want to speak to me right now but has changed
my life forever, and I want them to know they were not at fault and that I will always love
them somewhere deep in my heart. Written around July 2021.