Yes and No

Author: remembrancer

I wanted to say yes

to the invitation to dinner

to the offer of company

to the slanted smile in your eyebrows

I wanted to say yes

to your desire for my body

the hunger in your eyes

and the scorching seduction of your skin

but I keep saying no

I keep cutting short your kindness

I keep pulling away from your soft hands

I keep flinching and shaking and clenching my fists

In fear, in panic, in shame

Of the past

When I didn't want to say yes

but I couldn't say no

No prequels yet. Why not write one?

No sequels yet. Why not write one?

Comments (3 so far!)

Who I am despises who I've been.

Will self of past or self of present win?

Do you forgive, or do you move on? Great emotion in this piece.

This is so powerful and so important, the way it deals with consent and agency and trauma and how those affect our relationships. Wow.