HUSH
These are the stories
we’re not supposed to tell
old twisted stories
you’re not supposed to know
dirty family secrets
not seen in scrapbooks–
Blush over bruises
glasses cover black eyes
Shame pushed into her soul
No nightlight in dark room
hands tearing away his breath
and his little boy clothes
Finger down her throat
can’t get it all out
can’t be perfect
Always outside looking in
never more than a joke
sweet cold razor on wrists
Hospital bed that they whisper
he deserves for loving those
who should be shunned
Wrong skin color can’t change
wrong accent can’t hide
wrong life can’t be lived
These are the stories
that don’t get told
the old tired stories
that no one wants to hear
Don’t look back (let your tongue be silent)
Don’t make waves (don’t rock our family)
Don’t embarrass us (get on with your life)
Get over it or get out (we don't want to know)
Forget what you can’t change (forget, forget, forget)
Swallow the words (even if you have to choke)
But these are the stories
that sometimes get told...
and the world ends
and the family shatters
and we all fall down
but we get up–
we rise up and we fly
–how we fly! –
into the endless sky
Copyright 2014 by Stephen B. Bagley. All rights reserved. No copying without express permission of the author and publisher. This poem was published in a different form in EndlesS, copyright 2008 by Many Rivers Harbor.
Your poem is so good, sad, but in the end, uplifting. Thank you for sharing it :) Good luck with the rest of the challenge x
ReplyDeleteWonderful poem. Intense and emotional. Good luck with the Challenge! :)
ReplyDeleteVisiting on behalf of Untethered Realms for the A to Z Challenge.
Vikki, thank you so much!
ReplyDeleteChristine, thank you muchly!
ReplyDeletePowerful words to illustrate why places where trust is expected to be a given is, all too often, not deserved or earned.
ReplyDelete