I hate public transport

tw // sexual assault

Transcription:

I hate public transport.

Sweat in the air

Static exhaustion

Silent anxieties

Emitted from

British politeness

Asking me quietly

To keep to myself

Ask no one for help,

When he looks at me like that.

“it’s a compliment why be such a brat?”

Fuck that.

What’s that?

I can’t just go

When it’s me trying to leave and you’re telling me no

‘Cause you know if I stay here I’m easier to control.

Passengers witness this crime, yet there’s not one soul

That sees what’s happening,

Or maybe they do

But they don’t care enough

Just continuing to scroll

Acting out society’s sinkhole.

They’re hiding.

Not one soul that acknowledges his hands moving,

The school uniform I’m wearing,

The situation unfolding,

In broad daylight.

It’s obvious, do I need to spell it out in black and white?

We can’t blame her because “it was the middle of the night” or “that chap's alright”.

It’s saddening really, the blackness on that train, that bus.

It takes a lifetime to talk about what’s happening to our young girls,

Everything that happened to our Everard

And the rest of us.

I hate public transport.

---

Words by Sam Cooke

Artwork by Erin Zhu