Unwhole Poem by Michael Ordia

You will find them in schools, at work, on the street, at home.
You will find them broken, petrified, unwhole.
Young bodies coerced to eat from the fruits of womanhood
Shriek, squeal, howl ignored by the eyes of pleasure.

You will find them in solitude with a cracked reality.
You will find them in skirts too short it's seductive,
You will find them in skirts too long it's attractive.

You will find them in schools, at work, on the street, at home
You will find them broken, petrified, unwhole.
Broken by names we know too well, names we trust so much:
Uncle, brother, friend, teacher, boss… father.

You will find them with lips circumcised with silence
Timorous of death and the blame that accompany words.
You will find them in tears, soaked in an ocean of despair.
You will find them… When you do, stretch a hand of hope.