for a rape victim

for michelle

in your baby steps

the little measures you 

took to make a life

i see you shining

the light you bear

makes my breathe white

my eyes glisten

the slow singing of sirens

is not audible

i think about living

instead of dying

because if you can live

with all you bear

and still break open

a cold new morning

then nothing we've spoken of

wept or whispered in the dark

can erase the vindication

of creating light

of ending the silence

and the warm embrace

of rebirth awaiting you