The following poem was written by a previously abused woman:
How do we break our own heart?
You say you love me, like a fool I believed you
Empty words, empty promises
All the tears I ever cried for you, because of you
I wipe the final one off my cheek, it’s time to tell the truth and shame the devil.
Your hands around my throat, my back against the wall – feet dangling;
This is the man I love, the one who is supposed to protect me
The bruises you left, not only on the outside, but on the inside
I blamed myself, so I stayed.
As I lay on the bed, breath being choked out of me with a 9 mm in my mouth
Why, that’s all I want to know, why
Did it make you feel like more of a man?
To hear me beg for my life
Or was it the day you dragged me by my hair, holding a bullet with my name on it.
Or the day you actually pulled the trigger and the gun didn’t go off?
It’s not you who was breaking my heart, I was breaking my own
Today you love me, tomorrow I am nothing but an irritation to you.
In all our time together, I blamed myself for all the wrong.
For every slanderous word, every mark.
All this time, the only wrong I did was break my own heart.
So for once in your life, be a real man. Tell me why, please. Don’t leave me with scars that no one can heal.
I’m done, done waiting for you to love me. I wipe my hands, I wipe my tears and with a strong but empty heart, I say goodbye.
