POEMS BY ALICE   HARD CURRENCY   Devoted to being loving   she asked for too little proving her devotion        she inherited debt not her own diminished to portraying love her emotional bankruptcy became hard currency.    LET’S WRITE TO THE GUY            So I said to myself, "Let’s write to the            guy! You know – the one who            needs to know – ‘when you raped my 10            year old mouth, I thought I was going            to die. I couldn’t breath and            so now whenever I sleep with fear            I curl up my wrists so I lose the            feeling in my hands I lost when you            held my arms down that tight.            And I keep chewing on the inside of            my mouth to punish it for            enticing you.            You need to know that every time            someone tried to love me, I            ruined it by what ever means            were at my disposal.            You need to know that every time            I’m with a child, that child is safe.            I’m almost 50 years old now, and I wonder            Are you still alive?            I know babies older than you.’"                                      A POEM (by Becky, with thanks to Alice.  We are both going to reclaim our lives.)   I’ve been living on the edge now For so many years Never knowing why Never living. I finally figured it out It doesn’t make it better Well, yes and no Can I reclaim my life? I don’t know.