E y e s

It is impolite to look
Directly into people's eyes.
Also to look unabashedly
At what is going on
All around you.
Don't stare.
So impolite.
Behave like a well brought up girl.

And I lowered my eyes and did
Not see the truths
That stared me in the face.
I closed my eyes to the
Fact that my sister climbed
the stairs to face
a hell only she knew.

The devil danced on the terrace
Flesh on flesh
And we prayed below
With eyes closed
To the god of good upbringing.

I refused to acknowledge
the presence
Of fragments flying in the air
of broken childhoods.
They did not hit me
for I chose not to feel them.

Years later,
I cannot explain the
Bleeding wounds
I lay bare for the world to see
Asking them to be impolite
Imploring them to stare
Eyes open wide.

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