shadows

Again. And then again.
Abuse
Hurls itself against the courage within
Her. Breaking her spirit
Little.
By little.
Until the only strand
Of hope that remains
Is to survive it all.
Just survive.

Today, she breaks free,
Flees.
In fright.
Fright that will always follow her
even when she is far away.
and safe.

And then, she will cry.
The salt of her tears,
will spill on every pore
That he hurt.
Erasing the wounds,
But
Singing them with a memory.
Fierce. Dark. Frightening.

And then she will face the nightmares.
That will rudely awaken her.
Wet with sweat.
And tears. Again.
Making her remember the days.
Relive the nights.

The wounds will still be raw
When she picks up her threads.
broken, but still reminiscent of a once whole.

And she will learn to move on.
step by step.

And he,
He will take his next victim,
Who will follow the same path.
He will remain anonymous.
Slippery, like a shadow.
But there. everywhere.
Until we all rise as one,
To give him, what he gave our sisters.

But then again, it’s always easy to write.
Easier still to speak.


it is easy to speak of courage when we are not faced with fear. then, even the bravest of us, fails. is scared to walk out, shout, scream. perhaps that's why it's easy for the abusers to continue what they do.
this is for a dear friend.