Mar-i-on-ette

The no on the tip of my tongue

Trembled there for what felt like
seconds, minutes, hours, days.
A broken record, a strategy of
I just need to make do until the
sun rises and I can slink into the day. 
When they propose fight or flight, 
they never quite reference 
the third option of survival. 

As much as you have convinced
yourself that we are the same, 
that we tumbled into a category
explaining the nature of our actions,
our nurture was, is fundamentally unique.
Because when I said no, when I said no 
you countered with a yes that
was insistent and terrifying and
left little room for interpretation.

There is a recurring dream that
haunts my sleep from time to time.
I am being stalked by a lion, it has
the clear intentions of harming me.
I did not realize that the Sandman
could drift into my reality hiding
behind a lavish dinner invitation.