Someday, perhaps, I will meet
a woman with no scars.
A woman never touched by rape
whether the rapist is the man/boy next door,
father, brother, mother, uncle,
or the intrusions of society - part of
       that brutal rend and tear
       known as growing up
female in this world.

Someday, perhaps, I will meet
two women with no scars.
A couple never touched by hatred,
never bashed by kids at school,
father, brother, mother, uncle
or the intrusions of society - part of
       that brutal rend and tear
       known as growing up
queer in this world.

Someday, perhaps, I can ask
about living outside fear's shadows?
Loving without the constant pain
       of re-breaking bones
       of re-opening wounds
healed only in forms bent and strictured
by the intrusions of society - part of
       that brutal shape and mold
       known as growing up
in this world.

M. Anne Vespry
10 April 1990