Ten Years On

Our love began with all the charm

We would always be together

Our marriage now a storm we cannot weather

Our love now has become estranged

Ten years on, how things have changed.

The memories I hold inside my heart

A shattered life I can no longer stand

My love destroyed through your own hand

The love, the kisses slipped away

I was no longer the focus of your day.

Ten years on, I have lost all hope

Ignoring hints of where you were

Your mind not with me, instead with her

But it was not what was meant to be

A picture now I clearly see.

I dared not speak of any of this

For fear of what you would do

Punches thrown, I’m black and blue

The bruises left as a reminder now

All a lie, a broken vow.

Nights I spent all alone

Cause you were never here

I will not live a life of fear

My dreams are gone in a dusty haze

I’ll die with my memories of better days

Ten years on, there is no hope

I take away my fear

My fate is sealed; it is now clear

My life I take, I do it for me

It will set me free.

******

[A/n: The poem was inspired by a comment I made on a poem by George's Girl, "June Bride." I often leave comments on her work because I believe she is an underestimated writer. In our comment discussion, I made the point that they would look like in ten years on, hence this poem.
Research indicates that roughly one-third to one-half of women who die by suicide have a documented history of domestic abuse or intimate partner. Isn't it time the world stepped up and did something about this?]

Till next time,

Calvin