The Figure Poem by Lexy Sogl

Long nights—filled with my most revealing weakness
I try to hold it in
I try to hold it in
As best I can…

Some nights
hiding under the covers
I feel myself tense
My breath slowly being taken away from me

It all comes back

Under the oak tree
In the moonlight
I saw
The purple spread
Across my thighs
The darkness spread
Across my chest

Other nights—I hear it
The panting
The footsteps
The hate

My paranoia devours me whole
I turn around before I hear doors close
I run away before I know what I’m running from
I always leave—before I know why

His hands reaping my skin
As I gasp to catch my breath

My pain filling the air
Like a mockingbird’s last song

Roses spread across my bed
As I see
His foul lips
for the last time