#MeToo Writing Contest Honorable Mention- Queen of my own heart (running away from incest)/Kae Bucher

i wonder …
was it all a game to them…
that afternoon our house of cards
fell?
when my heart
was ripped like a playing card
as it tore
down streets on a green
skate board
AWAY
from a family who
thought it was
FUNNY
to pimp me
out
to old
men?
But then again…what
does it matter
who
they are …
or what
they think
I am?…
I am a 15 year old Queen of
 my own heart…
who rolls
up and down streets
AWAY
from brothers who
want sex
from me… from old men
who
wait for me
in the
front room
so I guess
that
makes
ME
THE WINNER
…because …
it’s not about the family
I was dealt
BUT
about getting my card
OUT of
their game…
I am a 15 year old Queen of my own heart…
so as soon…
as I can get off this
skateboard …MY
LAUGHTER
WILL
float
like shredded incest cards…
CONFETTI
WILL
WAVE
goodbye
as I skate
…AWAY…
to lands where sisters are
NOT
tucked into brother’s
beds

---

I was born in the Florida Keys, but grew up in the Bay Area before migrating south for college. I completed my bachelor’s in English at Fresno Pacific University in California, where I minored in Christian ministry. I have also had the privilege of serving as a youth pastor.

In addition to teaching special needs students and raising four children, I also studied Special Education as a graduate student at FPU. I have now been writing for over twenty years, and much of my recent poetry appears on my website: Buckets On A Barefoot Beach