Indelible in the Hippocampus

by Imogen Arate

Strolling two blocks from my residence 

Seeking sanctuary in a community 

Growing hostile toward this transplant 

Chasing a better life but marginalized 

Through historical mistrust 

Grown out of prejudice 

Adding layers of otherness

Because she, I, dared to speak up 

Against an assault by a pervy resident

Stepped into a cocooned trap

Because the police refused to investigate 

The judge refused to grant a restraint 

That beautiful living space

Basked in the warmth of a winter's fire

And idealized budding communal friendship 

Will soon conspire to prove its disdain 

Toward an acquaintance framed as the other

To protect their own long-term predator

And lies are buttressed against nuanced facts

Given priority absent the system's desire 

To deal an even hand for shielding those already in power

As I fled in the night toward a safer harbor

Frightful of another assault he'd be encouraged 

To pursue after he'd witness their enabling

Those short two blocks 

Stretched to a length unending 

More gaslit than a nineteenth-century Champs-Élysées

Don't demand from me forgiveness 

When those words of apologies 

Come with rationalizations

To hitch the yolk of responsibility

Unto one who ran but could not get away

Weighed down by sickness and exhaustion 

Used as excuses to further violate

I can't offer absolutions 

When I'm kept busy 

Fending off daggers 

Now a year removed from this heartbreak

Though I've been repeatedly prevented 

From seeking justice 

I swore I would transfer their power

To those without patronage 

Help augment the voices 

Of those forced to whisper 

And I'm keeping my word with my actions 

To counter the hypocrisy of those polite impostors

More keen to preserve their comforting lies 

Than to dismantle the nightmares of their creation

* * * * *

"Indelible in the Hippocampus" is also read and discussed on Poets and Muses 5/6/19,

https://soundcloud.com/poetsandmuses/imogen-arate-with-sean-avery

Imogen Arate is a US-based Poet and the Executive Producer and Host of Poets and Muses (https://poetsandmuses.com/), a weekly poetry podcast where she chats with poets about their inspirations. She has written in verse since her tween years, in four languages and published in two (English and French). While Imogen has always utilized poetry as a vehicle for self expression, she has also found it to be an effective therapeutic tool in coping with a recent trauma.