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April 19th — A Poem A Day

Battered Rose

We married in June
surrounded by roses and
joy everlasting.

October arrived crimson
called forth by your flying fist.

As leaves fell from trees,
and the cool night air grew chill,
my pride withered, too.

Apologies and remorse
bathed me after each bruising.

January found
me huddled against sudden
violent flurries.

You hated to hit me, but
I could not keep you happy.

Now tender green grass
grows upon my cold, dark grave.
Finally I am free.

In court you beg for mercy
That you did not have for me.

CLA

Poetic Asides, Day 18
Prompt: write a poem about anger or something angry

Before you ask — no, I was never a victim of spousal battery.  That doesn’t mean it hasn’t touched my life.   I wrote this poem to give voice to those no longer able to speak for themselves.

17 Comments

  2. Melli — I have said I would have rather my ex- hit me. Then I would have known it was wrong and left. The yelling and belittling, I just thought I had earned by not measuring up (his standards were arbitrary and ever changing, but I didn’t see that when I lived it.)

    The thing is, battered spouses often can’t leave, for fear of their lives — as my cousin found out, too late.

  3. How sad! But you’re right, those who live through this need a voice — and those who don’t live through it do as well.

    My dad wasn’t physically abusive except for a couple of undeserved spankings, but he was quite verbally abusive. It took years to get a proper perspective.

    The last two lines are especially gripping.

    Barbara H.’s last blog post..Look, Ye Saints

  5. Very intense poem, but truly brought the problem to life. Though not involved directly, it has brushed my life. Very scary indeed.

    Cherie’s last blog post..Saturday 9

  9. That’s rather sad !

    Congratulations to your new blog outfit ! I thought I was on the wrong blog !

    Gattina’s last blog post..

  10. You had me worried there for a minute. But sadly enough, there are too many people who have (had) to go through abuse, mentally or physically. This one came from the heart, I can sense that.

  11. Barbara — too many people don’t realize the violence in verbal abuse. We were made in the image of God — and given language with which to create and destroy.

    Betty — others have and are doing it better.

    Cherie — very scary,especially since it is often something we don’t even know about until it is too late.

    Carletta — you’ll recognize the silliness, if not the look!

    Andrew — thank you.

    Gattina — I was going for horrifying.

    Jientje — I knew somebody would think it was me. Actually, I wrote this not too long after my cousin was murdered by her husband. He killed himself as well, and never had to stand trial — at least not here on earth.

  12. I am glad that you are doing something for others. Awareness is just one of many steps. Have you noticed it seems to be a them in the blogs lately? Yours is not the first poem or story I have read recently concerning this subject matter. I am seeing the ripples… Keep it up.
    OJM

    OJM’s last blog post..Just a little look…

  17. OJM — there is often a lot of “them” on the blogs, but most people prefer to avoid it and read about lighter, brighter, funnier things.

    Dr. John — thank you.

    Nessa — thank you.

    Jill — why angry?

    Juliana — thank you.

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