Bleeding and Broken

a poem of those close-minded people

Then, she was naked
her soul bared to the world
she tried to protect herself from
the stares
the thoughts
the words
that slammed into her body
one by one
each cutting slightly deeper
than the last

One at a time
they didn’t hurt
but the load,
all of them together,
was enough to break her
and she lay
bleeding and broken
on the ground
with people stepping
over her, around her