#MeToo

The world is in turmoil,

Everyone and everything falling apart,

As if that weren't enough.

Everyday, you hear more and more stories

Of people who were harassed.

Assaulted.

Raped.

Molested.

But they're just here and there.

This?

This went viral.

I see my feed blowing up with this hashtag,

With people sharing their stories.

People who have been through the same.

These things, they make you feel alone.

They make you feel violated.

Worthless.

They throw you into a world of isolation.

And no, I'm not just talking about the loneliness that you feel.

I'm talking about the disconnect.

The disconnect from reality.

The disconnect from those closest to you.

The type of disconnect where you look in the mirror,

And you don't know the person staring back at you.

Sometimes, you don't even see yourself.

You just see what you've been through.

Rumors start to flood the halls of the places you frequent.

They call you a ho.

A whore.

A slut.

They call you weak.

Tell you it was your own fault,

For the way you walk,

The way you talk,

The way you dress.

You deserved it.

You look in the mirror,

And all you see

Are the names they've called you

And even you start to blame yourself.

Logically you know it wasn't your fault.

You know what really happened.

But even those closest to you start to turn

And that's what hurts the worst.

Those are the words that sting the most

Are the ones from those you confided in

Or the ones who found out on their own

But regardless of how they found out,

They begin to say more of the same.

As if you didn't feel bad enough already.

And because of this,

So many sit in silence,

Too scared to even press charges,

Let alone talk about this experience.

But now it's out.

There may be more and more occurences,

And for every person that speaks up,

There's another that doesn't.

And that's okay,

Because I've been there, too,

But now you see,

That you're not alone anymore.

You may not know what to do,

But anything helps,

Even if all you can do is say,

#MeToo.