I am in the throes 

of the time of a young life

when all that matters is

which college I will attend. 

I always say I am drawn to one. 

I wish it was for the pretty

grove of trees stretching the campus, 

but, in reality,

it is where

I felt the safest. 

I wonder if this is because I am a woman, 

or a woman who has been abused.