Caitlin Wolper: #MeToo Series
The Rules of the Road Aren’t Fair
Yellow, for “slow down,” not “stop,”
the word I should have said before a coward-
colored bruise bloomed like highlighter
over my heartbeat. A bruise was a kiss
made with teeth in his bedroom, hands held
down without real holding. I learned
to be intimate with the ceiling,
to be silent with my shirt collar high.
At a crosswalk—years after the bruise paled
into skin, the capillaries closed tight, the leaks
of red blood cells plugged—a red hand
on a street corner bid me and another to stop.
The light that saved me from oncoming traffic
trapped me on the corner beside him.
The Snake, Disguised
the door opens, flashes half-light
when a body enters:
outside intrudes on the bar
he once stepped from a stage
just like that, importance
in descending he once
hissed me down
to silence
too ruffled (still)
to speak i can only see
him his hand
how it scales around skin engulfs
soft arm of a stranger
the things i could tell her
they exit
& oh, the things i could tell
her but my fist must open
first try pretend act
unbothered while
my memory: blinded, branded
Caitlin Wolper graduated this past May from Penn State, where she earned a Master's in English with a focus in poetry. Her most recent and upcoming publications include the Voices Israel Anthology and Z Publishing's Best Emerging Poets series. Also a journalist and writer, she has bylines in MTV News, Brooklyn Magazine, Reuters, and New York Family, among others. She currently works as the Social Media Manager for Northside Media in Brooklyn. Follow her on Twitter @CaitlinWolper