"We Didn't Talk About It," by Jacqueline Joy

We didn’t talk about it.
We didn’t talk about anything.
We were talked to.
“Don’t do as I do, do as I say.”
“Stop crying or I will give you something to cry about.”

I started talking about it.
It didn’t go well.
I am now living in exile.
Shunned for daring to have an opinion different from you, Mother Dear.

Well, it is quite an adventure living “No Contact.”
It’s quite lovely really.
I don’t hang up the phone and feel sorry for you and sad for me.
I no longer search for remedies for your ills online only to have you ignore me.

We didn’t talk about it then,
And we won’t talk about it now.
Now that you have shown me who you are.
Now that you have exposed your ugly underbelly.
Now that I am getting healthier, I not only talk about it, I write about it.

The writing heals me.
It reminds me.
Every day it reminds me.
The page is a place to practice talking about everything I have been warned not to talk about.
As I write, I heal.