Ground Poem by Glen Miller

I had known the victim
In her younger days-
This wasn't her,
These weren't her ways.

By word of mouth
The story came:
Her boyfriend beat her
Day by day.

Never upon her
Did I see a bruise
But make-up and sleeves
Hide the abuse.

She didn't need him,
That was obvious to me.
But what could I do
To make her see?

I talked to her.
She ignored me.
I told her dad.
He was mad as could be.

But she had moved out-
For she was eighteen.
She hated her father
And made a big scene.

Now she lived
In a house of pain-
With the boyfriend who was
Her love and her bane.

Though she put on a mask
And hid the proof
I dug deeper
To get to the truth.

I wasn't about
To give up on her-
I wanted to make her see
That he didn't love her.

I talked to the counselor.
She called her in.
She denied everything,
Holding it in.

Why would she protect
Someone who harms her?
How much more could she
Possibly endure?

How could she stand up for
A guy who only knocks her down?
Someone who beats her up?
Someone who beats her down?

One day she missed school,
And then the next.
He put her in the hospital
'Cause she refused to have sex.

I found her room,
Was beckoned inside
Upon seeing her,
I wanted to cry.

What I saw was
Unrealistic;
He had gone nuts,
He went ballistic.

She was banged and bruised
Beyond recognition;
She wined and trembeled
Upon recollection.

Her arm finally healed,
Her legs finally mended,
She was still scared as hell,
But was finally defended.

I took her by the arm,
Led her outside,
I hugged her tightly
As she cried.

She told me everything,
Held nothing back.
Everything I'd heard
Was indeed fact.

She said she'd leave him
And never go back.
She went to his house
And started to pack.

He walked in with
Fury in his eyes,
He began shouting
As she began to cry.

Upon seeing me
And the cops too,
He shut himself up
And changed his tune.

He dropped to his knees
And begged for forgiveness,
Said he would change
If another chance she'd give him.

She said, 'no, '
And spoke her mind,
Damned his ways
And those of his kind.

He cried and cried
Tears of deceit
Planning to trap her
With this feat.

As he pleaded and begged,
Her damned good heart softened,
Blinding her eyes,
Opening her coffin.

He rose to his feet,
And clasped her hands,
Said that without her,
He could not stand.

She said, 'okay, '
And stuck around,
But she never knew
He'd put her in the ground.