As Long As I’m Bleeding

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Are you fucking-

Kidding me

Escapes my mothers lips

Always about everything

“Are you fucking kidding me,”

When dinner is not ready

“Are you fucking kidding me,”

When I’ve not yet ripped the pissy sheets 

From a tween boy’s bed

“Are you fucking kidding me”

A response reserved for simple tasks stacked high

She asks why my head is in the clouds 

Well that’s where task one is 

If I start from the bottom they’ll all topple over 

Are you fucking kidding me 

I learn from an early age 

That I must be some sort of joke 

Always fucking-

Kidding someone 

Are you fucking-

Kidding me 

A response reserved 

For my coping mechanisms 

Boyfriends in bathrooms 

Boy friends in back lots 

Never the girls I sleep right next to

Oh, no no 

That’d be a joke 

I must be fucking kidding 

Because that does not exist in this house

Under the Lord’s eyes 

Are you fucking kidding me:

An inner voice when my heart flutters 

At the bounce of her hair 

That matches her dress 

The break in the beat

As men jump at her breasts 

“Are you fucking kidding me!”

I scream in her defense 

Good friends?

Are you fucking kidding me?

So I shove those feelings down 

Like they’re the joke that I am

And I hold the hands of a man 

Who hurts my head as much as my heart

Has me going

“Are you fucking kidding me”

When he tries to think he’s smart 

My smart mouth a fuckin’ joke to him 

And I start my period earlier than expected

Are you fucking kidding me 

Tomorrow is Monday and I bleed 

Like a faucet. I tell my mother:

She sits at her chicken 

As I bleed in the kitchen

“Are you fucking kidding me 

I’ll go to the store tomorrow,” she says 

I call up my boy

Who’s getting annoyed 

Are you fucking kidding me 

And I tell him the issue 

So he gets on his bike and 

…at least he has that going for him 

A knock at the door

Are you fucking kidding me 

Says hello as he visits 

And he hands me a box

I told him to quit with the knocks 

This was a covert operation

-he scoffs-

“Are you fucking kidding me”

Thinks he’s too keen to not be seen 

My mother’s jaw drops

Saved by the bell

His phone rings 

His mother screams 

“Are you fucking kidding me!”

He tells her what happened

And I can hear her snap 

From across the room 

Are you fucking-

Kidding me 

“You snuck out 

For that whore?

You cant see her any more!”

He leaves before I say thank you 

“Are you fucking-

Kidding me!”

My own mother screams 

As she sees the things 

I stick between my legs 

She blames him 

Are you fucking kidding me 

Are you fucking!

That’s what it comes down to 

A tampon is a tell tale sign 

The Lord sees your sin in his mind

But I just want to stop the bleeding 

Are you fucking kidding me 

Like it matters what’s between my legs

If I bleed and bleed 

Just like you did 

Are you fucking kidding me 

“I don’t want anymore grandchildren,”

She says, “I won’t raise anymore babies!”

Are you fucking kidding me 

I think of my work load

Wonder whose doing the raising 

I stare at a box that’s says 

I’m not pregnant, I think

Are you fucking kidding me 

She asks

“Are you fucking?”

And I realize.

I must be some sort of joke