Prevention Manual Poem by Cloe C

In 3rd grade on my friends birthday while playing jump rope
my friend was gifted with a bloody nose
the nurse said no one must clean the blood up
blood can contain viruses that you can conceive from touch
teachers taught in 4th grade that menstruation was monthly
every 4 weeks you'll wake up in a bed covered in blood
while you slept a mascare was announced
congratulations this is what womanhood is
in 5th grade we were taught about the food cycle
animals have no table manners when it comes to survival
primal animals don't stop to think right from wrong
the need to fight and attack is greater than any consequence
so when it happened in 6th grade there was no warning
there was a uniform dress code that didn't make me less appealing
I read through the user manual of rape
995 perpetrators will walk free
there is no stopping a hungry animal
ready to sink it's teeth into its next victim
the victim activating it's fight or flight or freeze response
maybe this is why they keep getting away
there is no manual for what to do once this happens to you
no person will ever escape the hungry jaws of a predator
the teeth have already sunk in before they think twice
they only care when it's too late and it happened
no one took the warning signs seriously
more years pass and I take it as my warning
treating animals as test objects for some cruel experiment
in freshman year I switched classes to avoid dissecting a pig
in sophmore year I took chemistry to avoid dissecting a cat
not everyone needs the blood of a squealing pig on their hands
not everyone needs the fluid of a purring cat on their hands
no wonder there is no teaching about preventing a hungry animal
because it is the norm for them to get away full