blender
blend
blend me into you
blend you into me
blend us
it became us
I became you

blender
blending
blending brown into beige
            beige to black
                black to blacker
                      blacker to blue
                           blue to purple
                                purple to red
                                                                it was all red
blender
blending
those were your hands
rough fingertips over smooth skin
blending “no” into “yes”
because that’s how your daddy raised you
big businessman
                   “Never take no for an answer,” he said
                    that’s good marketing
I hope this makes him proud

blend
blended like the lines
blended because you blended them
exfoliating the surface; wearing away
did I ever draw them?

this isn’t a rape poem
this isn’t me incriminating you
this isn’t me pointing my finger
this is how you were raised
from the tiger in the grass
who trained you the right time to pounce
from the men who said weakness is accepting loss

can’t you see you blended into them?
I want you to be better than that
I know you’re better than that
I know I am
and after all you have part of me
by wish or by will
by blend or by force
I hope that part will triumph

I forgive you