on the back of her hand
is where the marker goes
after she’s scrubbed
as many of the names they called her
off of her body
in the 3rd floor bathroom
where she can be alone
she writes over the ones
that won’t come off
it says what it means
to mean something
small enough
that you really have to look
to see what’s written
it comes from a place that is so much her
that it is everybody
it is all of us
in the bathroom stalls
and the whitewash halls
in the bedroom alone
even when there’s someone there
i want to be seen
she thinks
but only by people
who are willing to get close enough
to see what’s really there