Take Back The Night
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Take Back The Night
There are few things more beautiful than the sunset
How light scatters across the horizon
the way the sun torments the sky with this final
gesture of beauty
is enough to make your heart flutter
and it does
Butterflies dance across your belly and take flight
It is nighttime
and somewhere a woman is afraid for her life
there are no metaphors for that
She becomes an unarmed soldier
in a wide open battlefield
in a war she never asked for
She will remember
the lessons drilled into her head
from the day she entered the world
already kicking
and screaming
Don’t talk to strangers
Do not enter their car
Never leave your drink unattended
No means no
Your body is a temple
These lessons are only relevant
when you are given a choice
There are no negotiations
between a switchblade and a chokehold
They will ask you how short your skirt was
Did you smile a little too wide?
Hold his gaze a little too long?
Maybe your body was saying yes
even when your mouth whispered no
maybe it was the whisper
maybe he didn’t catch it
that almost inaudible resistance
maybe you should have taken the main street
never walk through the back alley
it must have been the way you walked
hips moving free as if your body
might actually
be your own
This is the simple truth
sometimes strangers are not strangers at all
They are our brothers
a friend
a friend of a friend
a good Samaritan
with a smile that reminded you of someone
you must’ve met somewhere
Sometimes it is in your own car
Sometimes it is your own drink
with your grip firm around the glass
sometimes it happens quicker than a
no
and this temple
becomes a place for broken men
to practice new types of blasphemy
Often
we are fully clothed
hoody, sweatpants and running shoes
minding our business on the main street
on the same route we take every single day
around the corner
from our front doors
inside our own homes
where shadows turn friends
into predator
and resistance becomes merely a suggestion
It is nighttime
and somewhere a child is born
she will inherit fear like a birthright
administered intravenously
every drip drop an unsolicited affirmation
that tells her
your body
is not your own is not your own is not your own
Somewhere a woman
is taking an inventory of herself
of breasts
of hips
of thighs
her eyes are scanning the streets
doing the mathematics
of how many hurried steps
she will need to take
to arrive home intact
She is negotiating her body
when no is not enough
She is watching
as shadows turn her lover’s face
into someone she doesn’t recognize
She is taking the last sip of a funny tasting drink
and suddenly everything is unfamiliar
But at least for tonight
we become the watchmen
an army where no one gets left behind
we cover all her blind spots
and we are not afraid
to take back the night
There are few things more beautiful than the sunset
How light scatters across the horizon
the way the sun torments the sky with this final
gesture of beauty
is enough to make your heart flutter
and it does
Butterflies dance across your belly and take flight
It is nighttime
and somewhere a woman is afraid for her life
there are no metaphors for that
She becomes an unarmed soldier
in a wide open battlefield
in a war she never asked for
She will remember
the lessons drilled into her head
from the day she entered the world
already kicking
and screaming
Don’t talk to strangers
Do not enter their car
Never leave your drink unattended
No means no
Your body is a temple
These lessons are only relevant
when you are given a choice
There are no negotiations
between a switchblade and a chokehold
They will ask you how short your skirt was
Did you smile a little too wide?
Hold his gaze a little too long?
Maybe your body was saying yes
even when your mouth whispered no
maybe it was the whisper
maybe he didn’t catch it
that almost inaudible resistance
maybe you should have taken the main street
never walk through the back alley
it must have been the way you walked
hips moving free as if your body
might actually
be your own
This is the simple truth
sometimes strangers are not strangers at all
They are our brothers
a friend
a friend of a friend
a good Samaritan
with a smile that reminded you of someone
you must’ve met somewhere
Sometimes it is in your own car
Sometimes it is your own drink
with your grip firm around the glass
sometimes it happens quicker than a
no
and this temple
becomes a place for broken men
to practice new types of blasphemy
Often
we are fully clothed
hoody, sweatpants and running shoes
minding our business on the main street
on the same route we take every single day
around the corner
from our front doors
inside our own homes
where shadows turn friends
into predator
and resistance becomes merely a suggestion
It is nighttime
and somewhere a child is born
she will inherit fear like a birthright
administered intravenously
every drip drop an unsolicited affirmation
that tells her
your body
is not your own is not your own is not your own
Somewhere a woman
is taking an inventory of herself
of breasts
of hips
of thighs
her eyes are scanning the streets
doing the mathematics
of how many hurried steps
she will need to take
to arrive home intact
She is negotiating her body
when no is not enough
She is watching
as shadows turn her lover’s face
into someone she doesn’t recognize
She is taking the last sip of a funny tasting drink
and suddenly everything is unfamiliar
But at least for tonight
we become the watchmen
an army where no one gets left behind
we cover all her blind spots
and we are not afraid
to take back the night
Take Back The Night made me breathless. Amazing.