Abuse Poems (Drug and Spousal)

October is Domestic Violence Month (see National Coalition Against Domestic Violence). TurnAround Inc. and W.A.V.E.  (Women Against Violence Everywhere) presents another year of The Purple Poetry Book. The call is for anyone who wants to submit poems, short stories and artwork about domestic/intimate partner/sexual abuse/ body-self images.  The Purple Poetry Book will be published in October, published authors are invited to read. The books will be  sold at TurnAround, Inc. events for a small fee to help support TurnAround, Inc. and its continuing efforts to bring a stop to violence against women in our community. Email aevans@turnaroundinc.org for more info. DUE Thurs. 9-15-2011!!

Reflection

by Wynne Huddleston

You ruined my mirror—
each nasty insult from you
was a dirty fingerprint,
a purple circle on my
reflection. Smudge by smudge,
smear by smear, you covered it,

distorted my once-healthy
self-image until I
forgot who I
was. When I
looked at myself then, all I
saw was what you wrote—
“ugly, stupid, unlovable, sinner.”

published in the 2011 Purple Poetry Book

 ஜ۩۞۩ஜ

© Wynne Huddleston

 

Reminders

The crack

in my windshield from

a violent

impact;

cans

in the cabinet, lined up

perfectly

straight;

stains

on ivory carpet where

my blood

drained;

the imprint

of your fingertips on

my wrist;

the indent

of your fist in

the solid-wood

door.

Reminders of

things I won’t miss

anymore.

published in the 2012 Purple Poetry Book

 ஜ۩۞۩ஜ

© Wynne Huddleston

Filed Under “B”

Batter is for chicken—

not for your wife.

Butter is for bread—

not for burns.

Battle is for enemies—

not for lovers.

Bitter is for weeds—

not for hearts.

Battery is for acid—

not for your husband.

Beaten is for eggs—

not for spirits.

B is for brave—

be safe…walk away.

published in the 2012 Purple Poetry Book

 ஜ۩۞۩ஜ

© Wynne Huddleston

 

Depressing Yourself

by Wynne Huddleston

Depression lends
itself
to surrender,
I mean
you feel
ugly and
unhappy—
what’s the point
in getting
dressed or putting on
makeup
or combing
your hair?
It’s much
easier
to face
the enemy
when you’ve gone
over
to their side.

first published in Camroc Press Review, Oct. 2010

ஜ۩۞۩ஜ

© Wynne Huddleston

Alcohol Abuse:

Different Roads

by Wynne Huddleston 

in memory of Marcia Wilson Boyd
and C.J. & Crystal Harrison

Dear God,

Please let me wake up
to something different;

when the sun rises high at noon
let it be pink or green—
anything but hot yellow;

let the cattle in the pasture
sing like birds instead of that
awful dull moo;

let cats tell us what they are
thinking when they stare
so mysteriously;

let dark clouds become silver
helicopters that fly us up
to take a bite of chocolate moon;

and bring us down softly to grass
made of gold feathers instead
of hard beds of brown mounded
dirt and pillows of gray

stone. Or, forget all of that if only
You would go back

to that fateful day and delay
their journey to church,
or have the drunk driver take
a different road.

But if you can’t do either, I pray
You’ll give me strength to make it through
each lonely day, the wisdom to stay on
the right road, and the hope that I’ll meet
them again in such a beautiful place.

first published in The Shine Journal, July 2010

 ஜ۩۞۩ஜ

© Wynne Huddleston