Two spiders entwined
Clawing
Feeding off of - Destroying
Each other
I hated you more than I loved you
I spiraled into a pit - choking
On dirt
I never dreamed I would taste
I hated you
More than I loved myself
I could not escape
I could not breathe without you

You beat me down
It was all about control - the Italian way
(That's what you called it)
And the hatred -
If I was nothing
You were less than nothing
You could not control me
I broke the chains.  I beat my body
With stones
My tormented screams echoed through the streets -
As  I ran
From you and to you.  Possessed
But I could not be
Controlled
And I could not escape

One day I found myself dangling
From a window pane
But my fingers would not let go
I looked into the glass window
Horrified
By my own reflection.  By what I  had
Become
What you had made me into

In that moment I knew I had a choice
Dark or light
Life or death
Somewhere inside of the
Dank
Cold halls of my heart
I found the strength to climb
Down
To the solid ground
To kick dirt in your face
And escape