My girlhood was 
taken by a man
in a sweltering
July heat
six months before
my seventh birthday.
For years,
I filled my summers
hazily with what
was left behind 
when everything else
seemed stolen.
Now, its
the summer before
my thirties
and the seeds
that were left
have taken root.
I listen to pop songs
shamelessly and 
I watch bad
reality television
and I write poems
and I take
solace in a girlhood
I thought was
forever lost. 
I allow myself to
rejoice in
all I have reclaimed. 
i am not a victim.
I am not a victim.
I AM not a victim.
I AM NOT a victim.
I AM NOT A victim. 
I AM NOT A VICTIM. 

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