works burned to cinders
poplar trees leaking resin
bulging eyes lashed
punishment as a lesson
but his chain links snapped
fresh from slavery
hefty debts to the procession
the gally of people alike
that lent him a hand to his ascension
a journey his own
luck and his mind
fortified his constitution
they carried him to his fate
that was to be
absolution

Your grace is wasted on a ******* like me
I can’t accept your forgiveness
Because I haven’t forgiven myself
Don’t make it look so easy
No need to walk the higher ground
I can see you ready to take a fall
The hate that’s hidden is weighing you down
Don’t spare me the rod
And let your bitterness sit and fester
Give me what I deserve
Some say I’m gonna burn for all I've done
And I don’t believe there’s anyone to follow through
But sometimes I wish they were right
An eternity of suffering might be enough
To fill this *******’s bottomless well of self-loathing

You don't talk
but your eyes speak
Powerful words
that make me weak

I miss your touch
it has been a week
This sensory punishment
is your worst technique

Head smacked
With an abrupt thwack.
Nose aggressively shoved in the corner;
Followed by the crazed rant
Of an old school rhymer;
Unaware their current act....chant....
in the Future be court docket tabled....
Labled...
And designated a "child abuse" crime:
Breaking news at prime time

"How dare you speak to me?
Didn't your mother...
Or father teach you proper manners?
Look here, look listen! Directly into my eyes see!
So... I may know you understand clearly.
Little girls (and boys) are to be 'seen and not heard.'
You disrespectful ****."

" thwackity thwack"
A hard double hit reverberates  
(Emotionally terminates)
As a forceful chalked blue
Cue
Smacks...
Cracks...
The backside of the child's red
Pigtailed Head
(Thrusting it forward in an eight ball call shot
Designated for the left corner wall slot).

Nose banking the wall with a hard ******.
Dripping blood
(In full crimson flood),
Invading her mouth with copper waste
(Mixed in with the salty taste
Of tears falling in silent haste).
Destined to dry with a tinge of rust
and crust.

Followed by a loss of parental guidance trust.

Daring not a single peep--
In weep.
The child covers her bloodied mouth
(With trembling hands)--
Muffling emotional cries at an alarming rate--
(In a fearful state),
Dreading a forced follow foul stroke:
That a single sound could provoke.

Contemplating her prelection:
In extreme sudation.

She wondered why her mother....
Father..
Encouraged her ranting chatter
And told her that all questions matter?

Didn't they know that bubbly banter...
Chatter...
Would cause her
Disciplinary stature
(Possible nose fracture)
And a guaranteed position in the corner
(Under the care of an old timing
Rhyming....
Bitter....
Head splitting
Sitter)?
Marie Moldovan ©️ 2021

in ancient Greece,
there was once a belief that
humans were originally created
with four arms, four legs,
and two faces.

Zeus, the Greek god of the sky,
became afraid that these humans
would have too much power,

so he split them into two bodies
and separated them.

they were condemned
to spend their lives
searching for their other halves.

according to Greek mythology,
looking for your soulmate
is a punishment.


I don't believe in those stories,
but they make sense.

we punish ourselves
by spending our entire lives
in search of our soulmates.

we are on an endless journey
looking for love in
all of the wrong places,

and we never pause
to look at our own lives
along the way.

we are so blinded by
this need to keep moving
and to find someone,

that we miss everything
we could be enjoying
by ourselves.