Last night, I watched an Episode of “Good Girls Revolt” (totally ready for season 2!) in which a woman has decided to leave her husband. He says some incredibly callous things to her, which provoke her to the point of slapping him. His response is to take the tumbler he is drinking from and smash it across her face. As she sits with a gash in her cheek and as he blubbers his repentance I couldn’t help but remembering a woman I once came across in a domestic violence shelter. I was a seminary student and was volunteering with a local domestic violence shelter and a young woman was across from me, black eye, arm in a sling, on crutches and a cast on her leg was telling me about how she ‘deserved’ the beating her husband had given her, which was the cause for her injuries.
Initially I wasn’t sure what to write for today’s poem but then, as it does, it emerged. My poem today will address domestic violence. Sadly, women are still the target of sexism and unequal treatment, in America and abroad. Stateside, we can claim many victories but the fight is far from over. This battered woman came across my path less than 5 years ago. If you are in this kind of a situation, please seek support, so many of us are pulling for you and praying for you, please call:
The house wasn’t clean, the dinner was burned,
That is when he struck her.
He felt she’d embarrassed him
She was a bit too friendly with his old friends
Before she knew it everything was a blur,
That is when he struck her.
On the field he was their hero,
In the elevator, her own personal zero,
Did she think he was a joker?
That is when he struck her.
He cried, he tried to plead,
She knew it was time to leave,
She was vetiver and myrrh,
That is when he struck her,
That is when he struck her,
That is when he struck her,
For the last time.
Faithful Fractals: Poetic Prayers 