Mother, where were you
when your husband pushed himself
between my eight-year-old legs?

Mother, where were you
when your husband forced himself inside
my ten-year-old body?

Mother, where were you
when the doctors gave me shots
for STD that your husband gave me?

Mother, where were you
when your boyfriend slid his hands
into my pants and took me to your bed?

Mother, where were you
when I was locked up in a foster home
and treated like a criminal?

Mother, where were you
when the man you forced me to marry
raped me nightly and I asked you to come home?

Mother, where were you then?
Mother, where are you now?