The wails ring out.
Heart wrenching vibrations infect
these foreign white walls.
From the bedroom down the hall,
the once distant cries crash in
to suddenly violate my calm.

Sticky hands struck
by the strap of absolute rule.
Each sharp crack of the leather
sends heat to suffocate my skin.
Each tear cried
I catch
in my feeble hand.

Delusions of valor
mist in my mind,
yearning to offer solace
for those troubled hands.

Hands that held mine on our morning route to school.
Hands that climbed beside mine to the tops of tall hills.
Hands that guided mine on backyard adventures in the bush.

Whop!

The whimpers deafen me
until they are the only sounds to be heard.
The poison of paralysis
then settles into my sternum.
I could do not a thing.
I could say not a word.

Her bruises swelled on my skin.
Her strained screams choked in my throat.
Her broken breaths lingered in my lungs
as her pain was mine.