Nice Guys Kill Too
(original poem by Anna)
words from the author:
Someone close to me was in a abusive relationship. When she tried to press charges, many people criticized her. She was seen as a "bad girl" who was lucky to have gotten the attention of such a "nice boy." But dressing "slutty," having piercings/tattoos, doing drugs, and being poor has nothing to do with your right to bodily autonomy. Unfortunately, we don't live a world where people respect survivors unless they are the right type of survivor: rich, white, virginal, modest, submissive. Most abuse in relationships isn't taken seriously until it is too late. A lot of domestic violence victims never make it out alive. This isn't a poem about a guy who has killed a girl, but about a guy who will if he isn't stopped. The message is don't wait until it is too late to believe someone or you'll have blood on your hands.
There was blood on the banknotes
Lies on the telephone,
operator what's the area code
for my state of mind?
'He was such a nice guy'
She was drinking bleach
Kissing the human embodiment
Of arsenic poisoning
He bashed her head in
Just to see what colors ran
Out
'Get out of my mind!'
'But he was such a nice guy'
Neighbors all clucked their tongues
'She had piercings and did drugs'
should have treated her body like
A temple if she didn't want
The devil entering
'Oh my!'
'He was such a nice guy'
Still he gripped her lungs
Midnight special touch
Human embodiment
of anaphylaxis
And she cried out
To be free
He gave her books and
brand name clothes
He gave her death notes
and a bloody nose
He would have smiled
As she died
Isn't it obvious so why do you cry
That every single privileged bastard
'Was such a nice guy?'
Does the truth make
It hard for you to sleep at night
Neighbor?
In a few months he'll get off
for 'good behavior'
What a nice guy.