deaf ears

you’re not listening
you’re not hearing
the experiences of millions
resounding voices sharing slights and plights
and infinitely more living in silence

the barrage of bullshit
the utterly unreachable expectations
the violent words and wounds
are an everyday experience

but you weren’t there
how could you have been there?
when we were by ourselves walking to our car
or alone in a room with someone we called a friend

so when we tell you
we’re exaggerating, embellishing, even lying
what you didn’t see is somehow less real
and so the wound festers into self-blame

until you stop
bending these arrows back into us
and dismissing the damage it does
though it may quaver, i’ll always raise my voice