who hurt you here by the river
at the supermarket who hurt you
who saw you hurting who hurt
you who saw you hurting who
turned around and walked away
exit exit we must exit but how i have no
advice no direction but up and over and
swerve swerve the metal circle rusted and
dissolved on the side of the road it was left
after construction de stabilize meaning
and reinvent history but only if history
oppressed you six women naked in a hot
tub and we won't leave this house in the
country six women naked in a hot tub
we end it together so we can begin it
again we begin it was a different
rhythm we don't forget our fear we
were never afraid in the woods even
though we knew what was in the woods
we looking in the dirt
for something we all
putting our hands in the
dirt a gesture we saw
before somewhere on
someone she didn't
speak we didn't speak
to each other the forest
lit our hands a gesture
erase ignore separate
they say they tell us
they tell us to be an
individual that we can
be individuals we
cannot be individuals
any more
Copyright © 2021 by LA Warman. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on June 17, 2021, by the Academy of American Poets.