Sacred pause

The men came and killed the land

They sucked the nutrients from the soil 

and poisoned the wells

They sealed the exit to our homes

and polluted the air with hostility

---

We had welcomed them in 

when they promised care

so we were to blame

when they hurt us

and broke things

and lied

We were to blame

when they drained our world

of blue and green and yellow

and stole our stories 

and burnt our poems

and strangled our laughter

We were to blame

when they turned

the warm smell of home

into the bone chill of danger

---

When we escaped

depleted, exhausted

They used the scars on our skin

and bruises on our souls

to set us apart 

from the good women

---

The men were allowed to move on 

to the next village

They couldn’t be held responsible

for the devil in them

the sickness 

that the women weren’t meant to name

and also

were meant to have known

and contained

and treated

The women were to blame

The women should’ve fought back

The women should’ve stayed still

The women should’ve managed the men better

Male violence is never a man’s fault

The women should’ve been more wild

The women should’ve been less wild

The women should’ve worn different clothes

The women should’ve spoken out

The women should’ve shut the fuck up

The women should’ve left

It was the women’s fault