She should have turned back,
           that rainy night
The one that change her life
             Forever
She should have left
             She should have said no
                            She should have…
         But she didn’t.
 
She shouldn’t have screamed
       those hurtful things
“You never understand me!”
“I HATE YOU!”
“Just leave me alone...”
                  The ones that caused
                                        so much pain
                                              so much sorrow
       the ones that started it all                                                                                                 
                     She shouldn’t have fought
                              She shouldn’t have trusted
The man in the trench coat
The one that took advantage of her
           sorrow,
     her loneliness     
                                                     She shouldn’t have…
            But she did.
For the first time in a long time
She felt
             Loved,
                         Respected,
                                            Sophisticated
And like so many girls
Before her
Like so many girls after her
She found her knight in shining armor
The one that rescued from the parent’s death grip
Her prince charming
Her happily ever after…

Hours turned into
Days
Turned into
Months
Into
Years

She gets beaten,
abused,
                                    branded
And
She loses her,
innocence,
                                         purity,
                                                    childhood

And right before her eyes
Her glistening white castle
Her fairytale
Transform into
The deep dark woods
Where is held captive by her
Naivety,
  Trust,
Choices.
It is truly
a fate worse than death itself.

She decided that she
Has had
ENOUGH
She fought her way through the woods
Tangled with her fears,
Worries,
desires...
She must
break her curse
She must
create her own fairytale
The decisions are now in her hands alone.

So she did,
                she fought her way out
                           through the towering trees
that cast shadows over her life
     She fought her way out
     through thorns of lies
the ones that deceived her.
She fought her way to the clear.
                              
But now when she lays at night
     As she tosses and turns
In the pool of sweat and tears.
The emotional scars runs
              Deeper
             Than any
              Visible
              Wound

Thinking about the “what ifs”
          What if she never left
                   What if she had said no
                             What if she just made
                    One
              
    Different
               
                 Choice.

Maybe she wouldn’t be here.
A victim of human trafficking
                    A victim of violation
                             A victim of abuse

Maybe she wouldn’t be here
          her youth,
                          purity,
                                    innocence 
      Stolen
And even after she fought her way from hell
when she looks at herself in the mirror
                  She sees
                        The way other people look at her
                               The way her family look at her
                                     The way her future children will someday look at her
                 With shame
                          With confusion
                                  With sympathy
The scars that says she’s
Property,
               Weak,
                         Naive,
                                   Stupid

The scars that branded her
      Branded
Like an animal at the market
                 Branded
like a purse on a shelf
                 Branded…
Reminding and mocking her
That she
                Never
truly owned herself.
That she
               Never
Will truly own herself.
Her body nor her mind.

As if her fears and worries
Still held her
           Captive.
As if she never deserved
as savior.

And as her tears falls to the ground
at that very,
                   very
            moment
She realizes that she is not just her scars
She realizes that her past does not
                   Define
her
She realizes that
         She’s not just a victim
            She’s a survivor.