Raped, Hailed, Forgotten

She fought, she scratched, her screams unheard
Nails clawing flesh
pain from pleasure.
They kept on with their greed
Testing fiercely, limits of humanity
The roadside beckoned her last breathes
The cold darkness above, the hot asphalt below
Willing her to let go

Stares passed on, uncaring
Till a shoulder came forward for her to lean on
Despair seeped through her broken being
Days later a slightly healing finger pointed
At those who stole her all
The infamous shrugged and scoffed
At the broken system through which they would break out
A wave of romantics came forward
Up in arms for her dignity
Calling for castration or end of life

Then came the hypocrites – leaders, priests, men of position
Chirping loudly of chilli; morality; skirt lengths & disastrous western influence
Ridiculous rants calling for defense by crying out to raping brothers
Futile apologies after the harm done
Candles and tears burnt out quickly

Through it all her soul transitioned
From the desire for vengeance
To the desire for the random pointing at her character to stop
Those who loved her held he close
Trying to hold onto the light within
Knowing full well it wouldn’t fade away

No voice, no tear, no rant would dim
The spirit she once was; always would be
here or hereafter
And all the while she fought
For life, scratching back to the surface
Only to see the intruders made famous
setting the chain of violence in vicious circle

Finally, she let go to serenity
Now only desiring an end to it all
To become a fond, albeit saddening memory
To be vaguely recalling in scary stories

All those voices died down
All those arms disappeared with their candles
The broken system reigned on
And she became a faded memory
Another statistic to be counted again and again.