stones, sticks,
and the lick of a whip
were her daily penance
imagined, wrongs
but the pain and scars
real and never healing
the door was always
left unlocked, freedom
just steps away
but courage,
is a hard needle
to find in a haystack
made of barbed-wire
courage is a hard needle
to find,
and to pass through it's eye
is to walk through fire
is today the day...
that fear succumbs
to desire?
is today, the day
when the scent of jubilation
overcomes the ground-in,
ground down sense of hesitation?
for those who watch
and not so secretly know
for those who wait
with baited breath
for blood to flow
for those whose hands are tied
they,can only hope so...
i write this for those, who know of some one trapped in domestic violence....those who help women see a pathway out of the closed cycle...but know that the decision to walk away has to be that of the abused....and watch and wait with hope of freedom....and a fresh start....but sometimes see the fate of those who are unable to flee
this piece is written from experience as amember of a domestic violence support group....whilst i myself have not been in this situation...i have seen many who have...
and it saddens me...
that the incidence of fatal domestic violence
continues to rise