red velvet cake

she learns to lay, trembling at his every tempo

her heart somehow just stable enough to stay

 in the mosaic-esque echo 

of her hands 

and his parallel grip 

oh the things, that are so consequently sequenced

and oh i wish, the future was on her side

from all the internal screams that stayed muffled

the times she called it purely tough love

but it’s 1998. 

when she smiles behind facades

and ignores gut feelings, because he’s taking her to cape cod

and she can’t be having doubts on this sacred day in the “house of god”

the first dance, the bouquets 

saying vows, taking his last name

he feeds her the first bite of red velvet cake

and she continually has misdirected faith 

because of those enemies to lovers tropes 

in those books her fingers used to trace 

where she saw the idea romanticized  

that a boy is a good one

if at first, he makes you cry

and that hate will turn to love

if you promise him your life

but his lies— they continue to palpitate, disguise themselves, 

until her soul is forced to disintegrate

under falsehoods of a savior and a saint

something finally breaks

and he feeds her the last bite of red velvet cake

but society says she’s 20 years too late

as they question

if she was a real victim, why would she wait

why would she stay and let the dynamics of power escalate 

why did she wait so long to escape

when she knew she had no chance against red velvet cake

none of that should matter

but it does 

in a world where 

… truth is desecrated by the passage of time 

as it embalms the idea of belief

instead time does the job of massaging egos

it’s the only cheat code that can protect reputation

and sometimes time

can even be an excuse 

to leave male incrimination 

up to patriarchal interpretation 

so it’s no surprise that she sighs as she burns the recipe for red velvet cake

because she can’t help but wonder in the midst of failed justice

what was the point of

burning the recipe anyway?

About the Author

Ryland McGinniss is a sophomore History and English major with a minor in Gender and Sexuality Studies. He loves to do advocacy work whenever he can, and honestly you'll probably see some of that reflected in his writing. When he's not busy with writing, he listens to music and one of his most prized possessions is his concert t-shirt collection.