A Testimony

The following is a poem I first wrote in high school after we watched Ghosts of Mississippi in class.  Later on, after life happened I found a new meaning in the words and adapted it for what I felt during my abusive marriage.  Both times were dark moments in my life.  My dad had passed away my sophomore year of high school and I struggled with depression and grief for many years following his passing and then my abusive marriage…. well no words are needed there.   I hope you enjoy.  Also, credit for the artwork on this one goes to an old friend, Erik Anderson.  He is a wiz with photo shop and several years ago he did this for me. 🙂

The hatred drips from the
Skeletons of your souls
As you break my heart,
Diminish my dreams,
And wreck my future.
You shatter the peace in my life,
Scattering the bits and pieces around on the floor.
I bend down to pick up them up,
Only to find myself
Torn and bleeding,
Cut by the sharp edges
Of your hate filled reality.

The blood of my pride
Pours out from those wounds.
Dripping and bleeding,
It forms a puddle
Of lost hopes and dreams.
It gathers around my ankles
And works its way
Further and further
Up my body,
Drowning it in the lost dreams
I once held dear
And close to my heart.

The pain overtakes me,
Eating way at my pride
And overtaking my peace of mind.
Crazy thoughts of vengeance
Race through me as
I look for retribution.
The bittersweet reality of it all
Settles in my stomach,
Causing the hurt and pain to ride
In my throat and allowing for
It to take over every last bit
Of dignity I once held.

The rocks thunder against my pain racked body
Just as your insults thunder against my sanity.
The anger of your words overtake me,
Causing wounds to bleed more and more
Then, eventually, the rocks stop
And there I am lying in my own
Beaten hopes and broken dreams.
My body, now void of all
Equality, life and emotion
Lies there as a testimony
To the hatred and injustice
Displayed on this day.