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End the Stigma, a Poem by Debra Ayis

Updated: Dec 8, 2023


End The Stigma - Modern Poetry

END THE STIGMA

by Debra Ayis


Men can do no wrong


It had to be you; the woman.


You enticed him somehow

With your over-sized clothes

Naked unpainted face and untamed hair;


Your young innocent eyes,

Beguiled him like that of a practiced seductress


He took what was not his to take

His actions scarred you for life

He took your innocence

Making you a woman at the tender age of eleven


Yet society condemns the victim

Punishing till your blood is drained


Harlot they shout at you

They look at you like evil itself


No man will court you

Unsullied girls will not befriend you


So, when your friend told you what her uncle did,

You answered in fear,

knowing you had betrayed her to protect her future;


‘My dear friend, hold your peace and tell no one’

One martyr is enough.



 

First published in "Good Morning Justice: Brine Rights Vol 2" by Brine Books Publishing

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