I shouldn’t read Maya Angelou books
With a knowing greed
I tear through them waiting
Waiting for the lurid secret revealed
And as I devour the foul thing
my insides expand
and my breathing labors under the weight of it
There’s a pressure from within pressing outward
trying in vain to find release
Who did this to you?
Who did this to you?
I don’t know
I don’t know
I’ve seen blood in my hands before
Who was it?
Writing on top
Clawing
Willing with dead eyed stares
I won’t tell, it won’t help
It won’t ease the howl within me
Always there
As I brush my teeth,
it tried to escape
but I hold it in
It won’t leave me
The pain and emptiness stay until the next time
that my rage and fury unleash
in silent howls within my head
They won’t leave me, I won’t tell
Susana Benavidez 