I'm Jane Doe
Seven hours of terror, seven hours of pain,
I’m Jane Doe.
Seven hours stolen, then they called it a mistake again,
I’m Jane Doe.
They wrote an essay, they said they were sorry,
I’m Jane Doe.
As if a page of words could bury a woman's story,
I’m Jane Doe.
A paragraph for violence, a sentence for regret,
I’m Jane Doe.
A future for the guilty, a lifetime to forget,
I’m Jane Doe.
How cheap is justice when ink can buy release?
I’m Jane Doe.
How small must a woman's suffering be to purchase peace?
I’m Jane Doe.
They ask us why we stayed, why we did not run,
I’m Jane Doe.
But never ask the hands that held us what they had done,
I’m Jane Doe.
Seven hours. Say it slowly. Let it live inside your head,
I’m Jane Doe.
Seven hours of a life that cannot be undone or unsaid,
I’m Jane Doe.
And still the system finds a softer word for crime,
I’m Jane Doe.
An essay, an apology, and suddenly they get their time,
I’m Jane Doe.
No sentence for the terror. No justice for the scars,
I’m Jane Doe.
Just doors that close on women while they open for men with power,
I’m Jane Doe.
So do not call this justice. Do not dress it up as law,
I’m Jane Doe.
A system that forgives the cruel has shown us what it saw,
I’m Jane Doe.
So sisters, stop waiting for the hands that never came,
I’m Jane Doe.
Stop begging broken systems to remember your name,
I’m Jane Doe.
If law will not protect us, then we protect our own,
I’m Jane Doe.
If justice will not hear us, we will make our voices known,
I’m Jane Doe.
Let every frightened daughter learn she does not stand alone,
I’m Jane Doe.
Let every silenced woman turn her fury into stone,
I’m Jane Doe.
We are not your silence. We are not your shame,
I’m Jane Doe.
You gave us your injustice. We will give it back its name,
I’m Jane Doe.
You thought seven hours would leave us weak and small,
I’m Jane Doe.
You forgot what happens when the silenced finally call,
I’m Jane Doe.
We will not wait for mercy. We will not beg for rights,
I’m Jane Doe.
We will rise for every woman who was left alone that night,
I’m Jane Doe.
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