An Ode to the Bitter Girls by Jenna Faccenda

A word I wouldn’t usually associate myself with But seems to be tied to  Girls like me

The ones who know what it feels like to have another man’s hands touch her not so gently Or pleasurably

A map of his finger prints still paint my skin

I am talking about the kind of girls that know what the underground looks like And when I say underground I mean hell And when is say hell I mean the type of pain that’s unable to be put into words

I might be bitter But at least I am still capable of feeling

i’ve watched the caucuses of girls  Fade through the motions of life their light burned out Insides hollow  Dark Cold Emotionless

But you see my emotions Join me in bed at night Leaving me with a sour sweet taste  that bitter dissatisfaction 

This poem is for the girls who decided to take the love they gave Back Even when he said they can’t The girls who aren’t afraid to claim themselves 

But I guess that makes them bitter girls Tough-lipped girls Unbearable girls Unlovable girls

I guess that makes them girls like me

Jenna Faccenda is a Philadelphia native and writer. She is enrolled in Rosemont College’s M.F.A and M.A. program and is a marketing executive for Casemate Publishers. She is also the co-founder of Writely Me and the founder of Eclipse Lit. Her writings have been published in the Literary Hatchet, Lame Kid Zine, Rhytmn & Bones Press, Women on Writing, amongst others. Phoenix from the Ashes (2018) is her debut chapbook. Follow her ramblings on Twitter @faccenda_jenna.