when rotten fruit still hangs from the tree

when rotten fruit still hangs from the tree,
“yes it is very complicated”
“yes this is why it is taboo”
are the best answers they can conjure.
when the violence is planted inside
and betrayal takes root in your 8 year old body,
when the memory of the deepest injustice
an unthinkable betrayal
exists not in the mind
but in the body
living becomes like
a redwood tree trying to grow through a crack in the concrete;
a stunted life, stolen.
these kinds of testimonies don’t hold up in court
because my property cannot be commodified.
so they urge us to move on
but they’ve never taken
scorching hot showers
every day
for 20 years
to finally make clean what is inside one’s skin.