the Fabric of Shame

They say it was the silk of her dress, the curve of her skin beneath moonlight’s caress. The sway of her hips, the way that she laughed, as if joy were an invitation, a silent path. They say it was the lace on her thigh, the shimmer of sequins catching his eye. The bare of her shoulders, the red of her lips a language unspoken, a lure, a script. But what of the hands that take without asking? What of the eyes that strip without seeing? What of the whispers that silence the screaming? What of the laws that pardon the bleeding? Tell me-was it the cloth or the mind that betrayed? The thread or the threat that forced her afraid? The hem of her skirt or the hunger in him? The cut of the dress or the cut on her skin? A child wears rags, yet she too is torn, a woman in hijab, yet still she mourns. A girl in school shoes, a mother in black, a body still taken-no fabric holds back. So do not ask of the length of her skirt, but of the length of the silence when justice is hurt. Do not measure her blouse, her jeans, or her lace, but the weight of a world that shifts all the blame. For no thread ever weaved consent into seams, and no cloth ever conjured the right to her screams.