I'd like to post some poetry regarding domestic violence

[Tucker08087]

I don’t think it’s violent and, although meant to give pause, I am hoping it won’t upset anyone. I have seen so much blaming of the victim that I wanted to share.
I’ve been through many changing moods through this series. This was my “tough girl” anthem that I don’t think will upset anyone. I don’t always rhyme, but this one does.
Please, if you feel that this topic is too painful, let me know before I get deeper. This one is just flip:

I Ran. Big Deal.

Take his pictures
Off the walls
Change your status
Block his calls
Give all his t-shirts
To Good Will
Even though you
Wear them still
Pretend that you
Don't want to die
Sleep with 14
Other guys
Find a pawn shop
Sell his shit
Tell the world
You're over it.

[Tucker08087]

1. Okay, no negative reaction, so I'm going to go for it.

Silence isn’t quiet


It taps on my consciousness
Raps on my mind
Shrieks into every peace
And calm that I can find
Silence shatters thinking
With intense alarm
And whispers insecurities
That aim to do me harm
Like a fog it creeps around me
Suffocates my will
Taunting, mocking, laughing
While staying very still
There’s silence in the thunder
Silence in my screams
Silence is the soundtrack
That haunts me in my dreams
The once upon a timing
That is narrating my time
Is constantly a steady stream
Of babble nonsense rhyme
I’m in need of soundproof living
I’m desperate for relief
I can’t happily ever after
When I’m wallowing in grief
The silence overwhelms me
I cover up my ears
Cower into corners
Praying not to hear
Shhh!
Silence says too much.
I’m alone
I’m afraid
I can’t sleep
No one stayed
It’s just me
And I’m scared
Silence is
Never shared
It’s shouting for your life
It’s bullhorns in a riot
It’s the raw scream of a nightmare
But it’s never, ever quiet.

[Tucker08087]

2. The Good Ol' Boys Club

My front porch
Around 11 at night
Bare feet on concrete
Blue and red lights
I placed the call
But you're talking to him
The things I could tell you
If you'd let me in
But this is a club
And I don't belong
The rules are enforced
My gender is wrong
So I stand here all bloody
Thin nightgown, no shoes
You ask about drugs
Did I have any booze
You've been here before
You know the drill
He's drugging and drinking
And mentally ill
Still you give warnings
To me, not to him
The next time I call
You’re bringing me in
So from now til forever
I'll be doing just fine
In a hidden shallow grave
In the middle of the pines
I kept his secret
And I honored your pact
I hope when you're scared
That they've got your back
I'm one in a million
The battered and missing
If only the biased
Would believe it and listen
But my husband's on your rec team
And you've got a game at four
So you mark the file cold
And you head on out the door

[Tucker08087]

3. Don't want to overdo it. More tomorrow.

[The_jackalope]

4. Raw and honest. all of them.

We need this clarity of speech.

Thank you for posting them. Please post more.

[Tucker08087]

5. Thank you.

I had stopped, thinking nobody was reading them.

[The_jackalope]

6. There isn't a big audience here, and poetry is so personal

Many people can't or don't know how to respond - or their interests lie elsewhere.

Rather than think about the readership, I prefer to ask myself, "Does this poem deserve to be shared?" If the answer is yes, I just post it, and let it find its own way in the world.

Your stuff deserves to be shared, in spades! IMNSHO.

[Tucker08087]

7. Thank you.

I write for myself, but also an audience. Crazy weekend, but I’ll try to post another soon.

[Tucker08087]

8. The Unheard Truth

The Unheard Truth

I would tell you
Of the fear
Of heavy footsteps
Getting near
Describe the feel
Of trickling sweat
As those feet
Got closer yet
Talk about the
Knocking knees
Before the blows
And unheard pleas
But you don't want
To comprehend
What sometimes
You just can't defend
Now bile chokes
Just like his hands
Because you still
Won't understand
There is no point
I won't be heard
The sad truth is
There are no words
And funny how
The same was true
When I tried to
Reason with you
Society
Is quick to blame
To point a finger
Name a name
Easily
Destroy a life
He's a good man
Must be the wife
The fattened lip
The blackened eye
You all taught me:
Best to lie
Keep your dignity
Maintain respect
Head held high
And back erect
The more you know
The less you say
It's easier
For you that way
I'd tell you how
I sleep at night
Fully clothed
And with a light
And how that
Doesn't stop what seems
To be just yesterday
In dreams
I'd tell you
But it's plain to see
You'd just prefer
To let it be
That language
Still without context
Hasn't been
invented yet
The reality
You don't want heard
Remains the truth:
There are no words.

[Tucker08087]

9. Unblendable

Unblendable

Your life
With schedules, directions, reflections
Blood pressure and coffee go
Hand in hand
You are always thinking, plotting,
Looking to see who may be on which list today
Your life
Was easy to slide into
And you cannot fathom why the rest of us didn't
Your breath is slow, deep, calm
Breathing in the scent of your surroundings
Or sometimes fear
Of you
And that makes you smile
Your life is power and concern for others-
Faked, of course, but that's expected
But your laugh, when truly victorious
Is deep, loud, carefree
And careless
Your life
You didn't ask for it, work for it
But it is yours to use
And you do, to impact
My life
With alarms and scrambling
But not eggs
Blood pressure and pills go
Hand in hand
I am always waiting, watching
Looking for signs of danger
My life
I accidentally tripped into
This slow sinking into the fathoms of hell
My breath is slow, silent, or held
Like an animal hunted
I breathe your stench
But my own scent of fear is overpowering you
And the irony almost makes me smile
The only power that I possess
that is greater than yours
Is fear
My life is survival and blending
With business attire and firm handshakes
Faked, of course, but necessary
But my laugh, when appropriate
Might resemble what it once was
Before it was taken from me
Now trained, restrained, careful
Too precious for careless sharing
From mingling your life with mine
My life
I didn't ask for it, look for it
But it is mine
I didn't even see it coming
I must have blinked
Before the impact
But you, you're the type
who would have watched
Fascinated at the force
And now your life and mine are tethered
I think I still hear the crash of that merge
Or is that the memory of your laughter?