Say "No" To Hitting And "YES" To Yelling!

Yelling out that we won't be victims any longer that is! October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and as a survivor of domestic violence myself, this is definately a cause that I will proudly stand up and yell for.

Be the voice for those who haven't found theirs yet. Please consider offering your support to your local women's shelter, be a court advocate for both female AND male victims of domestic abuse, or anything else you can think of to help. This is unfortunately yet another area where our courts and justice system fail the victims. Let them know they aren't alone after all. Let them know that someone does care and that they don't deserve this.

Here is my contribution to Domestic Violence Awareness Month. It's a poem I wrote many years ago and I'm sure you won't have to ask who it was about after reading it. Whenever I read it I can't help but cry for that woman... knowing what I know now. She couldn't find her voice so she wrote out her pain on paper years later. Today, well sometimes you can't get her to shut up because she has found her voice and uses it as much as she can. lol

Thank you for reading.

The Birth Of A "Butterfly"

Cries ring out, echoing off the walls,
Pain felt by only one as another woman falls.
It all started so nice, he was such a great guy.
How could she have known it was just a great lie?

Finally she comes to as the new wounds start to bleed
And knows that someday from this hell she has be freed.
Opening an eye she wonders, "Why is this happening to me?".
Her other eye is swollen maybe it's good she can't see.

He's yelling again, now what did she do?
No matter how hard she tries he always finds something new.
"Lazy", "worthless", "whore" as he just keeps going on.
She swears one day he'll come home and he'll find her gone.

Another blow to the face, her head snaps to the side.
Maybe things would be better if she just died.
Do the kids know that he does this to her?
She hopes they don't but you can never be sure.

Finally he's done and he unlocks her bind.
Does she really deserve this or did love make her blind?
She slumps to the floor and welcomes the cold.
Such a young woman now feeling so old.

Can she leave him? Could she really make it out?
Again she closes her eyes as she's swallowed by doubt.
He'd find her and then he'd just do even worse.
Love isn't a gift, it's a damned hellish curse.

This isn't how things are suppose to go.
Were his words and gifts all just for show?
He was suppose to love her and save her from harm.
So why does she have all these marks on her arm?

He goes upstairs leaving her on the floor.
She'll just stay here until it doesn't hurt anymore.
Not many tears fall these days, she cried them all months ago.
How could nobody help her, how could nobody know?

"Help me", she whispers in pain to the room
And feels some warmth, come through the gloom.
As strength surrounds her she knows it'll be alright.
Yes, definately soon just not tonight.

She picks herself up, and heads towards the stair.
Holding herself straight because she knows he's up there.
Maybe tomorrow will bring her a chance to run
And life in this hell will finally be done.

She makes herself a promise, "I will start to be strong"
"And never again will a man treat me wrong."
It's been a long painful lesson but one she's learned well
Now it's time for this butterfly to break out of her shell.

J. Coiner 4/21/00
*edited 10/04/06 because of personal growth. original posted here- A Woman Cries*

The meaning of the "butterfly" in the title of this poem is from the term/symbol used for survivors of domestic abuse (and so many other things). Butterflies are a symbol of "freedom" and when someone escapes an abusive situation they are spreading their wings for the first time and finding their freedom just like a new butterfly fresh from it's crystalis.