Let no one lay their hands upon you and leave their mark upon your soul
Let no one steal your joyous warmth and banish you to the endless road of the bitter cold
For I know I am not the only one and this is the saddest of tales that too often has been told
Let no one lay their hands upon you and leave their mark upon your soul
He is big and I am small
I lay silent in my bed at night too afraid to move
Too frightened to breathe
Laying so still
As if I was already buried beneath the soil of the earth
Listening here in the dark
For those heavy footsteps to come down the hall
He was supposed to love me
He was supposed to protect me
I wish now I had no attention from him at all
I wish he would neglect me
Forget me
Just for one damn night
It's not supposed to be this way
I know that this is wrong
I must tell someone anyone but for now I must be strong
The days seem so short when I am away from him at school
There with the other children laughing and playing
While all the while deep inside I am silently praying
That I do not have to go back home
For the nights seem to last forever and are always so very long
He was supposed to love me
And I remember a time when I loved him so much
That was before the night so long ago
Of that first bad touch
I know others in the house are not blind
And perhaps they still see him as kind
And refuse to believe the reality that we exist in
This morning I actually saw my mother hug and kiss him
I wonder if he left and never came back
Would I be the only one that would never miss him
Shhh …let me listen
I think he is coming again
But I won't let this defeat me
I won't let him beat me
And this time it might not be so easy
For tomorrow I will tell someone of this horror
And if they do not believe me I will tell another and another
Until someone intervenes
For if I do not years from now his filthy actions I am sure
Will still haunt me in my dreams
I must escape this abusive mental prison
I must stop this physical pain
Wash away the sin of his stain
And make this once again the safest of homes
Because I don't think anyone wants to know the truth
That I live with a rapist in my home
Sometimes I feel so alone
As the tears begin to fall once more
And I could have swore right here in this moment
I heard someone standing in front of my bedroom door
Is he out there again
Is it that terrible time again
I close my eyes tightly now
And here in the darkness of my existence
In the ensuing persistence of my surging resistance
I once again repeat the prayer that has become my solemn vow
Let no one lay their hands upon you and leave their mark upon your soul
Let no one steal your joyous warmth and banish you to the endless road of the bitter cold
For I know I am not the only one and this is the saddest of tales that too often has been told
Let no one lay their hands upon you and leave their mark upon your soul
Thoughts of a Single Man © 2014 tm
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem