In dim-lit rooms where shadows choke the air,
She rains down fists like thunderbolts unchained,
Her tongue a whip that strips his flesh to bare
The walls absorb her screams; the world remains untrained.
He stands, a battered oak in gale-force scorn,
Each bruise a secret map beneath his skin,
Her venom seeps like poison through the thorn,
While silence carves its canyon deep within.
Yet when he turns, seeks refuge from the flood,
The spineless swarm descends like hungry crows,
“Coward!” they caw, their mockery a bloodied rod,
Defending her while dragging him below.
These brothers, armored in their twisted chivalry,
Forge iron shackles from their shallow pride
They guard the viper’s strike with loyalty,
While he, erased, bleeds out where none abide.
The silent abuse gnaws marrow from the bone:
Not only her wrath, but men who claim the throne
Of enablers, crowning unaccountable queens,
As broken kings are left in shattered scenes.
the pouting begins
abusers manipulate
first apology
within a few weeks
a blatant power struggle
narcissists rule
welcome to hell house
you can never fully please
seriously run
he will seclude you
she will leave permanent scars
they are abusers
He began to take her away from her hobbies.
No big deal, her friends thought.
Then he took her away from her family.
They thought it was just young love.
After the marriage no one could get in touch with her.
He had sequestered her far away.
She no longer seemed to have a phone.
Her social media accounts were closed.
You don’t suppose he is hurting her? Her best friends wondered.
Her family was even more alarmed.
He had just called and told them that she was missing.
That was twenty years ago. She has never been found.
If you could read my mind
it would be more difficult for me to escape
I have the craftiest plan
but it will not work if you do read my mind
I am a ghost here, you have taken all of my blood
Bloodless, friendless and alone, I ponder my fate
Do I have enough energy left to make a break for it?
What if you catch me, will I be dead?
If you could read my mind, you would know I am miserable
Something I fear to tell you, for you are a mean pouter
I plot my path, wanting to undertake a new journey
It does not include you, but I wisely keep this hidden
Because I fear your wrath, your temper and your meanness
Because I am terrified of what you might do to me.
Where is my dog? He disappeared a long time ago.
If he is dead, where is his body? I plot my escape.
They say the abused becomes the abuser,
but I will never turn out to be you.
Your shadows may haunt me,
but never consume.
Every scar you inflicted,
every tear you caused
has given me the strength to never fear.
Your cruelty taught me what not to become,
but it also taught me empathy.
I carry your wounds,
but not your hate,
as I refuse to conform to your twisted fate.
They say the abused becomes the abuser,
but my mind sings a different tune.
With every step,
I prove society wrong.
In healing,
I grow immensely strong.
Your ghost may haunt me time to time,
but I will never let my past dictate my future,
as in shadows deep,
my spirt climbs,
to reach beyond the pain you caused.
I know you well,
because I knew you well.
Children grow into what they are taught.
The constant pain from blows I fought.
Your clean shirts pressed for your nights out,
No matter if I cried with a painful pout.
Your drunken fits when you got home,
Bragging about the way you got stoned.
Putting me down because I changed,
My birthing body was all rearranged.
A pitiful family hides it all,
A short abuser who thinks he's tall.
Injustices will hold your clout,
Someday fiend you'll be found out.
In shadows deep, they weave their cunning guise
With silver words and false, beguiling eyes
Their smiles, a mask, concealing hidden schemes
Deceptive hearts, where selfish ego secrets scream
A puppeteer of trust and empathy
Beware the charm that hides a wicked plan
For in their web, they will steal your soul
Let wisdom's light can pierce deceit's dark veil
Expose the lies, and truth at last shall prevail
Shine the light, on the darkness of silent beasts
Drinking more alcohol and drunk
Falling into the mud at waterfalls
Creeping in grass like a Crocodile
The parrot sung ,"
Haibo...Oh!
Booed...
Drunken...yoh!
Vooed...
Bitten the innoncent parrot like a bulldog
Veiled your face and Closed your ears in open view
Other parrot sung,"
Haibo...Oh!
Booed...
Drunken...yoh!
Vooed...
You put yourself into the trap
because of drinking
And drunk
You are Shameful
because of your druken actions.
Written February 27/2023
By Alfonso Warally Ngengethe Mussabwa Chris
shattered glass,
all over the floor.
my feet bleed,
but I still want more.
some years ago,
you started a war.
I loved you once,
never again I, swore.
you paint me evil,
but I disagree.
you disliked yourself,
and took it out on me.
these marks that you’ve left
are starting to wear.
I can’t be who you need,
but you don’t care.
shattered glass,
nothing to fall for.
a million cracks run through the pane,
& i wait for you at the door.
I think of the times
That you used my body
And turned me into
Someone other than me
Your name is forever
Etched on my skin
The scars you left
Are deep within
You took my whole life
Away from me
Isolated me from friends
And family
You made me yours
To use as you please
You kept me close
On bended knees
Though I'm no longer with you
I still am not free
I still feel those brown eyes
Burning through me
I'm always afraid
To close my eyes
Cause I see your face
And I still hear your lies
My skin still burns
Where your fingers have been
A reminder of the mental
Hell I live in
After her ordeal and rescue she was offered too much prettiness
Too fast, too much empathy, too much concern, too much kindness.
She ran back to her abuser, trying to reattach her depressed self to him,
Trying to rectify what she had begun to think was normal, promising love.
When in fact, she was giving him less than that, accepting his terms.
Because she did not deserve pretty, she did not deserve kindness.
Immobilized, she knew she was a bad girl, she said and did the wrong things.
She would be lucky if he took her back. He pretended he was not going to.
She cried and screamed and begged, accepting any terms he set down.
She ran inside, and they locked the door, locking the do-gooders out.
Locking out her family and friends, who had finally gotten her to safe ground.
She never again remembered that she had once been outgoing, and fun.
She forgot about parties, and playfulness. She forgot how to laugh and smile.
She was back in the devil’s arms, where she felt she belonged,
Trying forever to resuscitate the forever-after she had expected long ago.
The one she believed in for the rest of her life, the one that kept her prisoner.
He is sorry after giving her that beat down.
He has never been this sorry.
His wailing sobs can be heard all over the hospital.
Begging her to forgive him. She decides to not press charges.
He is like a contrite little boy.
She wants him to return to that adoring, hand-holding,
loveable, overly solicitous almost too-good-to-be-true man
she remembers from not so long ago.
She is not ready to get rid of him just because he gave her a
beat down once or twice or three times. She cannot leave him.
She loves him. And he loves her. They are perfect together.
The nurses shake their heads sadly as they leave the hospital.
Her with a black eye, and a wired jaw, giving him loving eyes.
Him promising everyone along the way it will be the last time.
Until the next time.
ABUSER BEAN
Morning beams to light addiction
Brewing needs to a daily fatigued affliction
Dark brown beans of caffeine cupped in ceramic
Without brew: seems I’ll go manic
Vapour breathing cup of fragranced mist
Beckons to needy lips in frantic caffeine list
Odours burnt, smoky and oaky teasing steady sips
Frenzy of buzzing bliss on my coffee trips
Bottled, tinned or cupped I’ll keep my stash
Never to withdraw in a buzzing crash
Never fret to fill my cup
Why wait, just Fill it up
Each time alight the kettle, another hit
Whenever I please, I’ll settle to quit
In any aching addict, a heart lies thirsting
An empty cup forever searching
-Rickus Viljoen
@Facebook: Mr Writes
I can lie like you wouldn’t believe,
Convince you beyond doubt,
I’ll back it up with reasons that make sense,
I’ll say it with sincerity,
Staunch and resolute,
Done so well I won’t need a defence,
I’ll play the victim,
Play the crowd,
I’ll play my part so well,
You can’t compete with me this is my show,
Your just a part I let you play,
And now that play is done,
You know this isn’t my first rodeo.
I'll play your parents play your friends,
I’ll play the public eye,
I’ll play them for their love and sentiment,
I can get away with anything because of who I am,
Because they’ll always pimp you for a settlement.
wM
It happened many years ago,
yet from my mind it refuses to go.
Death freed me from my abuser's life,
the day it freed him from the claws of his own miserable life.
But to me life is just a transparent glass,
through which I see my childhood rolling on the grass.
My physical chains were taken off,
but my psychological chains still switches my happiness off.
yes, he is dead,
but with him my freedom died.
I mean my abuser.
Sub Categories
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.