Flee

Maybe if I pretend I’m not breathing.

Maybe if I scream loud enough.

Maybe if I can get out of this room.

Maybe if I can get the clip away from him.

Maybe if I can tell him I need water.

Maybe if I can make it out the door.

Maybe I can make it to my friend’s house.

Maybe if I call the police they’ll protect me.

Maybe if I ducked fast enough I’d be okay.

Domestic violence isn’t funny. It doesn’t happen once. It terrorized me.

My things would come up missing only to be found burned in the back yard. I wasn’t allowed rest because of the mocking from outside my bedroom door that I had to put a lock on to keep him from raping me again. I couldn’t go to my friends without having to check in frequently to make sure I wasn’t doing anything inappropriate which I didn’t.

The first time he hit me was with both of his palms smacked into my shoulders pushing me backwards. I was so surprised that I didn’t respond. When he started going for the face, that was the most difficult. When he pulled the gun I’d gotten for personal protection, putting it to my head, I didn’t want to die. I didn’t want him to be the cause of my death. I chose to flee.

I read years later that he said he didn’t want a divorce. Then why would you beat on your wife? Why would you pull a gun on her? Why would you blame her for your shortcomings? I don’t regret leaving him. I only regret not doing so sooner.

If you’re in a domestic violence situation, or are uncertain whether or not your experiences are abuse, please contact Domestic Violence Hotline, or call 800-799-SAFE (7233). If you have been sexually assaulted, yes, even by your husband/partner/boyfriend/girlfriend, you can find help at R.A.I.N.N. (Rape And Incest National Network) by visiting their website at rainn.org or calling 800 656 HOPE (4673)

You are not alone. Help is out there. You will be okay.

Mythical

To capture the eyes that adore me back

To experience the breath of your kisses

To envelope myself in your arms

To be in silence with the chorus of rising bellies

To caress the satin that calls my name

To press my urgency to your ear, confessing

To know, understand, you are my mythical being

Abide

sexydancer

The taste of your skin

is the richest flavor of sin

Let me drink in your dreams

Collapse at the seams

Let me dive into your spirit

Steadfast as your intimate

Abiding in your soul

your voice, whisper soft, and low

Let me read your skin like braille

breathing in you, then exhale

Give me your deepest release

Let me paint you, my masterpiece

in skies of orange and purple hue

Give to me the art of you

Missed

I missed your birthday a couple of years back.

I was locked up, sorry about that.

See I got to running with a rougher crowd

They drank too much and partied too loud.

I knew they were bad, but it was so much fun

I knew my world was about to come undone.

I left you with your Grandma Jones

She took you in and gave you a home.

I couldn’t destroy myself while keeping you

I mourned your loss, but got your name tattooed

on my forearm where I see it every day.

I missed you but I had to stay away.

I hope someday you might miss me as well

while I sit here 5-10 in a 4 by 6 cell

I’m sorry I missed your birthday a couple months back

But I was locked up, sorry about that.

 

This is an imagining of why someone might leave their child behind for the sake of self-destruction. This is not based on fact or any person I’ve known living or dead.

Treasure

There are little trinkets that I keep in my pockets.

They don’t mean anything to others so they mock it.

I keep a little rubber pig that squish-ed brains

I keep an alpaca as well, a gift from Rayn

I keep tiny rubber ducks because they’re neat

I keep plastic gold coins to pirate kids I meet

I keep a little black bell with a kitty face

I keep a kazoo that hums good pace

I keep a harmonica that I don’t know how to play

I keep things that make me happy every single day.

Protest

You turn my blood the color of my skin

I’m made of mud, like you, my kin

We breathe the air made from the trees

We drink the water from stormy seas

We laugh without ever being taught

We’ve all done things that we oughtn’t

I object to your hasty dismissal

which, my friend, is abysmal

I deprecate you right to your face

I am far from being your idea of disgrace

I am human, just like you

Deny it all you’d like, we both know it’s true.

The Martyr

happypeace

Come down off the cross, stand your ground

There’s no more time for fucking around.

You can’t have your cake and eat it too

Roll up your sleeves, we’ve got work to do.

This world is starving for the love you have

Quit being the electronics slave

Reach out, connect, make a fool of yourself

Dust off your “Give a Damn” from the top shelf

Open your eyes to the world as it is

Get out! Get going! You’ve so much to give.

Don’t mind the naysayers, there’s always those,

just keep on trucking, follow your knows.

Share what you have that you don’t need

Don’t give in to the excess of greed

Bloom where you’re planted from the seed

that brought you forth for you to succeed.

Get down off the cross and get to work

Enough already, your duties, don’t shirk

Shadows Vanish

shadows

Try as I might, I can’t keep from weeping

I wish upon wish, my traditions keeping

But from my heart, my tears are leaking

Your silence screams at my speaking

Oh, how I wish you’d trusted me more

Instead of looking for ways to score

From my chest, my heart you tore

But those are shadows of vanished lore

I love(d) you with every bit of my being

From our home you stole while fleeing

Every bit of our future fleeting

I wish, I wish that you were seeing

As these holidays warm others homes

 

I watch and miss you, feeling alone

My traditions are now gone to tome

May love find you someday, wherever you roam.

Set a Spell

howl

Kick the needles ‘neath your feet

raise your arms, the moon to greet

Call the wolves. Call the owls.

Under dark, the hailing howls

Lay the stones from east to north

Deosil way to lay the fourth

“Honor AIR that breathes my life.

Passion’s FIRE burning bright.

Emotional WATERs flowing free

Grounding EARTH, cradle me.

SPIRIT high, SPIRIT low

Heed me now, hear me and know

I raise my heart to greet the night

In the sun I claim the light.

I call to you to hear my plea

Grant me peace and prosperity

Material goods for material needs

Spiritual power, banish greed

Service holy giv’n in your name

The WHEEL turns, offerings of change

Beloved! Beloved! Hear my cries!

Balance me within your eye

Love and justice, wisdom, peace,

Hear me now, so mote it be!

Mem’ries

monopolytennessee

The crescent moon tilts slightly

against the indigo sky

through the shadows, I move spritely

with unbidden tears I cry

I trudge the road less traveled

My warmest sweater unraveled

So I shiver in the gath’ring storm,

grief overwhelming, I MUST mourn

As daylight breaks the night

I allow my feet quick purchase in the light

A haven ahead affords me rest

I am given respite at my behest

Home is where I’m going to be

If only my mem’ries weren’t in Tennessee.