Clocks ticking
Keys jingling
Hearts pacing
Thoughts racing
Unaware of this race
To safety
I have constantly been playing
Looking over the shoulder
Paranoid
Of who might gain on me
The shadows are my friends
The loneliness is an enemy
Preparing myself, to be
Ready
Just in case . . .
Clocks ticking
Keys jingling
Hearts pacing
Thoughts racing
The consistency to haste
Attached permanently
Paranoid
Of the races home
To protection
Depending on a soldier
When the shield is me
Within me
Within us
—Women
Prepared, to be
Ready
Just in case . . .
We need to be
Ready
For unexpected
Actions
Of
People
Who wish to hurt us
Emotionally
Not on a schedule, or
Based on fear—
But with confident assumptions
Just in case . . .