No Way Out: A Poem on Abusive Relationships

she could stand him no more/ she was sick to the core

she saw a way out/ the judge was in doubt

counselled him with a frown/ right there he broke down

he sang her a love song/ promised he’d do no wrong

her love drives me crazy/ my judgement gets hazy

he’s a passionate man said the judge/ he loves you much too much too much

go home and stay happy/ he doesn’t treat you as crappy

as I’ve seen other wives/ who fear for their lives

he gave her the smile she knew only too well/ to a stranger it was loving, to her it was hell

he welcomed her home to a bed full of petals/ but soon she was biting a spoonful of metal

everyday was a new one, never the same/ the happiness he’d promised, it never came

to everyone he was god, personified/ to her he was not, she was vilified

everyday she was wrong, she was bad, she was worthless/ his words were unloving, his smiles were mirthless

on every occasion she raised her concern/ she was the guilty one, each judge would discern

no one would believe what a gentleman he was not/ he was only a lover, for her he was fraught

with feelings he couldn’t control or diminish/ she doesn’t comprehend, being womanish

her words fell on deaf ears, his and theirs/ he would destroy again and again vow to make repairs

each time she complained, she became the villain/ in the eyes of the judge, she was the one killing

his spirit day by day, yet he cherished her/ what an ungrateful woman, everyone conferred

she grew isolated, in mind and in spirit/ there was no way out, she just couldn’t bear it

shackled by his love, she found herself crying/ couldn’t get busy living, so she got busy dying

Takbir Fatima is a full-time architect, entrepreneur and educator, and a part-time traveler, thinker, tinkerer from Hyderabad. Find Fatima on Instagram @talkistania and read talkistania.wordpress.com.

Featured Image Credit: Andy Boren, Flickr, CC BY-NC 2.0