Bruises bloom like flowers

Unshed blood holds secret powers.

Those old men said:
“You’re a white rose,
Don’t bother with red paint
Alice made that mistake
So don’t you do the same,”

Sex ed. A new ninth grade low,
Knee knocking
Gym shorts and stockings,
Bad system, you know.

Ignorance that oozes
Talking all about bruises
Cause vagina’s not a safe word
Should have had a safe word.
Maybe that’s why she’s covered up in
Bruises.

Now they’re saying it’s all her fault.
You should see her in a tank top.
Tanks will go to war to defend a woman’s pride
Pride decided by a culture
That didn’t teach a girl how to have any
Pride.
Anyway, that’s what they say.
Writing diseases on a whiteboard,
Praying to the lord,
Bored kids
Don’t know any better, but
That’s how you go about it.

That’s how you talk around it anyway.