Educated
Emily Lora
She tells me her story.
With raised ears, I listen intently
while she starts to breathe heavily.
"The way he touched me," she says.
"The way he violated a trust," she says.
His touch is permanently engraved in her memory
like a festering burn.
She won’t be the same again;
her worldview is tainted.
She says, "He didn’t know better."
She says, "It wasn’t his fault."
I get angry with excuses
as I clench my fist at her wild posturing.
I question:
How can someone say that after what had happened?
It isn’t her fault either though.
Imagine the lies that he poured into her poor soul.
Many say it’s boys who need to be educated.
We so easily point the finger at others,
but it’s the world that needs to be educated.
I guess 'brainwashed' is too strong of a word,
but what else can be used?