I will always be
the one who got raped
the one whose marriage
turned into a nightmare
the one who moved
half-way across the country
to be with another jerk
the one who seems
to have attracted
too many weirdos
men who
try to make me
believe
that the sky is purple
even though I know
it’s not.

My past will never
change because
I cannot change
my past
nobody can
I can accept
that this is part of who
I am
just like I am
a mother
have written a thesis
I am very proud of
I blog
I write poetry.

All of this is who
I am
and out of all of this
I will create my future
with stuff added
from outside of
my control.
That’s just how life is.

(August 13, 2015)