Ennufff is Enough: The Crisis Call

She called a few days ago
and wanted to talk to someone, anyone
about her sexual assault

Confused, petrified and alone
she conveyed her story
and I listened

Her story wasn't the first I'd heard
I'd told this story myself
Her story won't be the last, either

The longer we pretend
this doesn't exist
the bigger it grows

Feeding off of shame, guilt, pain and pride
The lies supersede reality, and
Ennufff is enough

Her tears stain my soul
trickling into the recesses of my heart
Her life has veered off course
as society sits idly by
twiddling their thumbs in denial

She spins out of control
careening off the roadway
into the thick brush and down the steep hillside

Her body
the vehicle she'd once travelled in (felt sheltered by)
has been written off, totaled.

She emerges from the wreckage
barely alive
hanging on by a thread

The traumatic imagery
fresh in her mind
plays over and over

"Make it stop," she pleads

She wants to hit rewind
take herself back to the minutes, seconds, before IT happened
to be NORMAL again

but that's not to be

This is the new normal, I'm afraid

This place
where people pretend IT never happened
where friends, family and lovers patronize and dismiss rather than listen

Perhaps its just too painful to hear and process
Perhaps they're still dealing with their own traumas and demons
but whatever the cause
the effects are pathological and implosive

The effects are too many to list
too emotionally taxing
too far reaching and devastating to convey in a few lines

Sexual assault and the devastation it leaves behind
are more pervasive than you may realize
but not insurmountable
the change begins with you

Ennufff is Enough